Metals react differently. Some are very reactive and others are unreactive. Observations of reactions can be used to put metals into an order of reactivity. For example, copper is unreactive so it can ...

Potassium reacts quickly with water producing a lilac-coloured flame For example, when potassium is added to water, the metal melts and floats. It moves around very quickly on the surface of the water ...

There are six alkali metals: Lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs) and francium (Fr). You’re probably familiar with lithium, since it’s inside the batteries of all your ...

The wide reach of corrosion, a multitrillion-dollar global problem, may someday be narrowed considerably thanks to a new, better approach to predict how metals react with water. The wide reach of ...

It’s the classic piece of chemical tomfoolery: take a lump of sodium or potassium metal, toss it into water and watch the explosion. Although this piece of pyrotechnics has amazed generations of ...

If you can’t turn water into gold like a good alchemist would, the next best thing might be to transform water itself into a shiny, metallic material. Researchers have achieved that feat by forming a ...

When alkali metals like sodium dissolve in liquid ammonia, they produce a colorful spectacle that has puzzled and delighted chemists for centuries. The metals release electrons that give the solution ...