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Alkali metals include all of the elements in column 1A of the periodic table: hydrogen, lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium. These metals are united by the fact that they all have one electron in their outermost layer of electrons.

For the most part, the elements listed above also like to lose the electron in their outermost layer and do so easily. However, because hydrogen is so small, it does not lose its one electron easily and tends to behave more like a nonmetal. Francium is a very rare element that decays quickly; it's estimated that there's only ever one atom of francium present on earth at any given time! For these reasons, the bulk of this lesson will focus on lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium.

Properties and Characteristics

Alkali metals are silvery, soft, and not very dense. They can easily be cut with a butter knife, and cesium can even melt in the palm of your hand. They have low melting points and are incredibly reactive--so reactive that they must be stored in special solutions or containers to prevent an unintended reaction. Part of what makes alkali metals so reactive is that they have one electron in their outermost electron layer. Like so many other metals, the alkali metals want nothing more than to have electronic structures like their famously stable and unreactive cousins, the noble gases.

It takes very little energy to remove that outermost electron from an alkali metal. Thus, alkali metals easily lose their outermost electron to become a +1 ion. This happens so often that it is rare to find a sample of an alkali metal with all of its electrons; most alkali metals occur in their ionic +1 form.

The energy needed to remove an electron from an element is called the first ionization energy. The alkali metals have the lowest first ionization energies of all of the elements. In fact, as you go down the 1A column, the first ionization energies get lower and lower, making cesium the most easily ionized element on the periodic table.

Reactions

Reactions with alkali metals are among the most exciting--and the most dangerous. Generally speaking, the easier it is to remove an electron, the more energetic the reaction will be. The ease of removing an electron from an alkali metal translates to a fantastic release of energy.

This principle is well demonstrated in the reaction of an alkali metal with water. Below is the generic form of an alkali metal (represented by M) with water and the chemical reaction for potassium metal reacting with water. The alkali metal added to water makes hydrogen gas, alkali ions, and hydroxide ions.

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characteristics & reactions - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Alkali Metal Elements: Properties, Characteristics & Reactions - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Alkali metals include all of the elements in column 1A of the periodic table: hydrogen, lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium. These metals are united by the fact that they all have one electron in their outermost layer of electrons.

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What Is an Acid?

What's chemistry without combining a bunch of stuff together, right? One of the most exciting reactions in chemistry involves acids, which are substances with a pH of less than 7. Contrast this with bases, which have a pH greater than 7.

Buckle your seatbelt, because we are going to conduct reactions that cause fizzling, bubbling, and heating. Let's get started with the following reactions:

Acids and metals

Acids and carbonates

Acids and hydroxides

The first group of reactions we'll discuss is when a metal and an acid are combined. The general reaction results in a salt and hydrogen gas. Not all metals react this way, but many do.

For each type of reaction, the balanced equation, which means the number of atoms on the reactant side (left side of the arrow) equals the number of atoms on the product side (right side of the arrow), will be shown. The full ionic equation, which shows the ions (or charged atoms) in an aqueous solution (when a material is dissolved in water) will also be shown.

The reaction of magnesium with hydrochloric acid produces magnesium chloride (a salt) and hydrogen gas.

The balanced equation is as follows:

You'll notice letters in parenthesis next to the element's symbols. This just shows you the state the element is in:

When this reaction takes place, the hydrogen gas causes bubbles and the reaction creates heat. This reaction is known as a single displacement reaction, because the magnesium displaces (and replaces) another element (hydrogen).

Now let's check out the ionic equation. Sometimes a net ionic equation is used, and this means that the ions that are the same on both sides will be crossed off. Here, we'll just present the entire equation:

For our second example, let's see what happens when iron is mixed with sulfuric acid. Here iron and sulfuric acid result in iron sulfate (a salt) and hydrogen gas. Take a look at the balanced equation:

Again, bubbles from the hydrogen gas are formed and the reaction releases heat. Just like the first reaction, this is a single displacement reaction (iron displaces hydrogen).

And the ionic equation is:

Acids and Carbonates

Let's move on to acids and carbonates. A carbonate is negatively charged and contains a carbon bonded to three oxygen atoms. The general reaction results in a salt, carbon dioxide gas, and water.

The reactions between carbonates and acids are called neutralization reactions because the acid is neutralized. In other words, the acid and the base (carbonate) are neutralized, or their pH gets close to 7.

If you've ever taken Tums to deal with stomach acid, you have experienced this reaction firsthand. Tums contains carbonate, which neutralizes the acid in your stomach. And if you burp, guess why? Yep, the reaction creates gas and this causes you to burp.

Let's look at another example. When magnesium carbonate reacts with hydrochloric acid it produces magnesium chloride (salt), water, and carbon dioxide. The balanced equation is:

Like the other reactions, bubbles are produced (this time due to the carbon dioxide) and heat is released.

The ionic equation is:

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carbonates & hydroxides - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Reactions of Acids: Metals, Carbonates & Hydroxides - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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What's chemistry without combining a bunch of stuff together, right? One of the most exciting reactions in chemistry involves acids, which are substances with a pH of less than 7. Contrast this with bases, which have a pH greater than 7. Buckle your seatbelt, because we are going to conduct reactions that cause fizzling, bubbling, and heating.

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BBC Bitesize - KS3 Chemistry - Metals - Revision 2

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Study the reactivity series for some common metals with BBC Bitesize KS3 Science.

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Reactivitity of Metals with HCl - Qualitative Lab

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Reactivity of Metals with water - Qualitative Lab