Which column is alkali metals

They also have a silver-like shine and are great conductors of heat and light. Alkali metals are so-called because when they react with water, they create highly alkaline substances. Alkalinity refers to the pH of the substance, or the ability to neutralize acid. Substances that are highly alkaline can form strong bases able to neutralize acids and maintain a stable ph level.

Every element has a nucleus, made up of protons and neutrons, and alkali metals are no different. Surrounding the nucleus of atoms are electrons, which are particles with a negative charge. These electrons exist in energy shells around the nucleus of the atoms, each of which can hold a varying number of electrons. The first shell can hold up to two electrons, the second up to eight, the third, 18 and the fourth, It's these shells of electrons and how alkali metals are structured that make them so reactive.

All atoms naturally want to have a completely full outermost shell of electrons. However, elements in that first column of the periodic table all have one electron in their outermost shell.

This outermost shell is also called the valence shell, and the electrons that reside there are called valence electrons. Having only one electron in the outermost shell makes it very easy for the atoms of alkali metals to reach points of stability — they just need to lose one electron! This willingness and ease of losing an electron to reach a state of equilibrium is known as high reactivity.

In fact, reactivity in chemistry is defined by the number of electrons in the outermost shell. Noble gases elements like neon and helium are very unreactive because their outermost electron shells are full. In this process, the alkali metal is said to be oxidized, and whatever takes the electron from the alkali metal is reduced.

All of the alkali metals like to give up their single valence electron," says Dr. They are a very different family, even though they have a similar name. That far left column is Group One Group I. When we talk about the groups of the periodic table, scientists use Roman numerals when they write them out.

The "one" in this case refers to having one electron in the outermost orbital. A Family Portrait Who's in the family? Starting at the top we find hydrogen H. But wait. That element is NOT in the family. There are three isotopes of hydrogen. Hydrogen-1, or protium , contains one proton in its nucleus, and is by far the most common form of hydrogen Hydrogen-2, or deuterium , contains one proton and one neutron in its nucleus, and comprises the remaining 0.

Hydrogen-3, or tritium , contains one proton and two neutrons, and is only found in trace amounts; it is produced by the interaction of cosmic rays on gases in the upper atmosphere, and in nuclear explosions, but since it has a half life of only Heavy water is water made from two atoms of deuterium and one atom of oxygen. This form of water is literally heavier than "ordinary" water, since an atom of deuterium is twice as heavy as an atom of "regular" hydrogen.

H 2 O has a molar mass of Ordinary water contains about 1 molecule of D 2 O for every molecules of H 2 O. The electrolysis of water concentrates D 2 O in the solution, since the lighter isotope evaporates from the solution slightly faster. Successive electrolysis experiments allow pure heavy water to be produced, but it takes about , gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of heavy water by this method.

Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactions: it slows down fast-moving neutrons, allowing them to be captured more easily by other nuclei. The generation of heavy water was important during the research on nuclear fission that went into the Manhattan Project during World War II. For a typical person, a fatal dose would require drinking nothing but heavy water for 10 to 14 days, so it's pretty doubtful that heavy water poisoning will be featured on CSI anytime soon.

Most hydrogen is prepared industrially be reacting coal or hydrocarbons with steam at high temperatures to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is called synthesis gas , and can be used in manufacturing methanol. On smaller scales it can be produced by the reaction of active metals such as zinc, calcium, etc.

Hydrogen gas is combined with nitrogen in the Haber process to synthesize ammonia NH 3 , which is widely used in fertilizers. It is also used in the manufacture of hydrogenated vegetable oils; in this reaction, hydrogen atoms add to the carbon-carbon double bonds in the vegetable oils double-bonded carbons bond to fewer hydrogen atoms than single-bonded carbons — i.

Another use for hydrogen is in rocket fuels: the Saturn V rockets that launched the Apollo lunar missions used , gallons of kerosene and , gallons of liquid oxygen in its first stage S-IC , , gallons of liquid hydrogen and 83, gallons of liquid oxygen in its second stage S-II , and 69, gallons of liquid hydrogen and 20, gallons of liquid oxygen in its third S-IVB stage; the Space Shuttle main engines use , gallons of liquid hydrogen and , gallons of liquid oxygen.

Hydrogen is lighter than air, and was used in balloons and dirigibles also known as airships or zeppelins. Dirigibles were used in city-to-city air travel in the early s, and in trans-Atlantic crossings in the s and s. During World War I, German zeppelins were used in bombing runs over England, since they could fly higher than the British planes. On May 6, , the German dirigible Hindenburg caught fire as it came in for a landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey; 35 people out of the 97 aboard and one person on the ground were killed.

The exact cause of the fire is still the subject of speculation, but the disaster signaled the beginning of the end for airship travel. Modern "blimps" use helium to provide lift, which avoids the problem of hydrogen's flammability.

Molecules which contain hydrogen bonded to nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine can attract one another through the formation of hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are a particularly strong form of dipole-dipole forces , which arise because of the unequal sharing of electrons in some covalent bonds. If one atom in a covalent bond is more electronegative than the other, it "pulls" harder on the electrons that the two atoms share, giving the more electronegative atom a partial negative charge, and the less electronegative atom a partial positive charge.

The partially negative atom on one molecule attracts the partially positive atom on a neighboring molecule, causing the two molecules to be more attracted to each other than two nonpolar molecules which have no electronegativity differences between their bonded atoms would be.

Molecules that interact by these dipole-dipole forces tend to have higher boiling points than nonpolar molecules, because higher temperatures are necessary to overcome the attractive forces between the molecules and separate the molecules into the gas phase. In the case of O—H, N—H, and F—H bonds, the electronegativity differences are particularly large because fluorine, oxygen, and nitrogen are the most strongly electronegative elements.

The attractive forces between molecules containing these bonds are particularly strong, and are given the name hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are not as strong as covalent bonds, but they greatly influence the physical properties of many substances. In particular, hydrogen bonds are responsible for the fact that water is a liquid at temperatures at which molecules of similar molecular mass are gases. For instance, hydrogen sulfide, H 2 S, which weighs Ice floats on liquid water because the hydrogen bonds hold the molecules into a more open, hexagonal array, causing the solid form to be less dense than the liquid form.

In living systems, hydrogen bonding plays a crucial role in many biochemical process, from the coiling of proteins into complex three-dimensional forms to the structure of the DNA double helix, in which the two strands of DNA are held together by the hydrogen bonding between their nucleic acids components. In this technique, a sample is placed in a powerful magnetic field usually produced by a superconducting magnet — see the section on Helium , which causes the hydrogen atoms in the sample to resonate between two different magnetic energy levels; pulsing the sample with a burst of radiofrequency radiation typically between to MHz causes the hydrogen atoms to absorb some of this radiation, producing a readout called an "NMR spectrum" which can be used to deduce a great deal of structural information about organic molecules.

Since almost all organic molecules contain hydrogen atoms, this technique is widely used by organic chemists to probe molecular structure; it can also be used to determine a great deal of information about extremely complex molecules such as proteins and DNA. The technique is nondestructive, and only requires small amounts of sample.

Iodine I is a purple grey solid non metal. It has the atomic number 53 in the periodic table. It is located in Group 17, the Halogens. It has the symbol I. Tellurium Te is a silver-white semi metal that has the atomic number 52 in the periodic table. It is located in Group 16 of the periodic table.

It has the symbol Te. Antimony Sb is a hard brittle silver-white semi metal that has the atomic number 51 in the periodic table. It is located in Group 15 of the periodic table.

It has the symbol Sb. Tin Sn is a silver-white metal that has the atomic number 50 in the periodic table. It is located in Group 14 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Sn. Indium In is a silver-white metal that has the atomic number 49 in the periodic table.

It is located in Group 13 of the periodic table. It has the symbol In. Cadmium Cd is a blue-white metal that has the atomic number 48 in the periodic table. It is a Transition metal and located in Group 12 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Cd. Silver Ag is a silver metal that has the atomic number 47 in the periodic table. It is a Transition metal and located in Group 11 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Ag. Palladium Pd is a silver-white metal that has the atomic number 46 in the periodic table.

It is a Transition metal and located in Group 10 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Pd. Rhodium Rh is a brittle silver-white metal that has the atomic number 45 in the periodic table.

It is a Transition metal and located in Group 9 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Rh. Ruthenium Ru is a brittle silver-gray metal that has the atomic number 44 in the periodic table.

It is a Transition metal and located in Group 8 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Ru. Technetium Tc is a silvery-gray metal that has the atomic number 43 in the periodic table. It is a Transition metal and located in Group 7 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Tc. Molybdenum Mo is a silvery-white metal that has the atomic number 42 in the periodic table.

It is a Transition metal and located in Group 6 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Mb. Niobium Nb is a shiny white metal that has the atomic number 41 in the periodic table.

It is a Transition metal and located in Group 5 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Nb. Zirconium Zr is a gray white metal that has the atomic number 40 in the periodic table.

It is a Transition metal and located in Group 4 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Zr. Yttrium Y is a silvery metal that has the atomic number 39 in the periodic table. It is a Transition metal and located in Group 3 of the periodic table. It has the symbol Y. Alkali metals are located in group 1 of the periodic table.

Have a single valence electron which is easily lost from the outer shell. Alkali metals react readily with water to form hydroxides and alkaline pH solutions. The electron is the smallest sub atomic particle that make up the atom. Has a negative charge and is located in shells that orbit the nucleus. Atomic radius is the distance measured from the nucleus to the outer valence electrons — measured in pm picometres which is 1x m.

A hydroxide is a compound that contains an oxygen and. Oxidation is the term given to the process when an atom loses an electron to become a positively charged ion. Table of Contents. Atomic Structure. Element Names and Symbols. Elements in Everyday Life. Groups and Periods. Metals and Non Metals. Elements, Compounds and Mixtures. States of Matter. State Changes. Physical Properties. Chemical Properties.

Atomic Number. Atomic Mass. Why is it Important? Who Uses It? Why Gaps? All Elements Abundant? Elements Made in Lab? History of Alchemy. Modern Day Alchemy. Alchemy Symbols. Ancient Greek Symbols. The Three Primes. Alchemy Symbols of Compounds. Atoms, Elements, Molecules, Compounds.