Alkali Metals - Development of the Periodic Table

Lithium, Sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, francium

1

Soft, low density, low melting point, reactive

Reactivity increases

They decrease

The atoms gets larger and the attraction between the nucleas and the electrons in the outer shell decrease which make it easy to lose the electron.

For metals (left), reactivity increases as you go down the group But, reactivity decreases when moving from left to right along a period.

Metals - Good conductors, Malleable, only solids, high density, very hard, shiny Non-metals - Bad Conductor. Non-malleable, liquid/gas,solids, low density, brittle, dull

Shells

Typical metals that are good conductors, dense, strong and shiny. Found in the centre ( Group 2 and 3)

• They are coloured - compounds that contain them are colourful • Can have more than 1 ion • Transition metal compounds make a good catalyst

• Soft • Low melting and boiling point • Increasing reactivity as you go down • Higher relative atomic mass

• React vigorously and produce hydrogen gas and metal hydroxides • Amount of energy given out by reaction increases as you go down group

• Vigorously when heated in chlorine gas to form white metal chloride salts

• Form metal oxide - different for each element • Lithium - lithium oxide • Sodium - mixture of sodium oxide and sodium peroxide • Potassium - mixture of potassium peroxide and potassium superoxide

• Group 1 is more reactive • Group 1 is less dense, strong and hard with lower melting points