Group 1 Alkali Metals Flashcards
(8 cards)
1
Q
Do alkali metals form acidic or alkali solutions when reacted with water?
A
Alkali
2
Q
Alkali metal properties
A
- They are all soft metals which can easily be cut with a knife (decreases down).
- They have relatively low densities (increases down) and low melting points (decreases down)
- They are very reactive (they only need to lose one electron to become highly stable) (increases down).
3
Q
Alkali metals reactions with water
A
Group 1 metal + water ⟶ metal hydroxide + hydrogen
4
Q
Alkali metals reactions with oxygen
A
Group 1 metal + oxygen⟶ metal oxide
5
Q
Lithium observations with water
A
Relatively slow reaction
Fizzing
Lithium moves on the surface of the water
6
Q
Sodium observations with water
A
- Sodium moves (on the surface)
- Sodium turns into a sphere/ball
- Effervescence
- Sodium gets smaller
- White trail seen
7
Q
Potassium observations with water
A
- Reacts more vigorously than sodium
- Burns with a lilac flame
- Moves very rapidly on the surface
- Dissolves very quickly
8
Q
Why does reactivity increase as you go down group 1?
A
- As you go down Group 1, the number of shells of electrons increases by 1
- This means that the outermost electron gets further away from the nucleus, so there are weaker forces of attraction between the outermost electron and the nucleus
- More electron shielding
- Less energy is required to overcome the force of attraction as it gets weaker, so the outer electron is lost more easily
