Alkali metal, any of the six chemical elements

that make up Group 1 (Ia) of the periodic table—

namely, lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium
(K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and francium
(Fr). The alkali metals are so called because
reaction with water forms alkalies (i.e., strong
bases capable of neutralizing acids). Sodium and
potassium are the sixth and seventh most
abundant of the elements, constituting,
respectively, 2.6 and 2.4 percent of Earth’s
crust. The other alkali metals are considerably
rarer, with rubidium, lithium, and cesium,
respectively, forming 0.03, 0.007, and 0.0007
percent of Earth’s crust. Francium, a natural
radioactive isotope, is very rare and was not
discovered until 1939.

ALKALI
METALS
LITHIUM
Lithium compounds, also known as lithium salts,
are primarily used as a psychiatric medication. This
includes the treatment of major depressive disorder
that does not improve following the use of other
antidepressants, and bipolar disorder. In these
disorders, it reduces the risk of suicide. Lithium
is taken by mouth. 

ORIGIN
Discovered in 1817 by Swedish chemist Johan August
Arfwedson in the mineral petalite, lithium is also found
in brine deposits and as salts in mineral springs; its
concentration in seawater is 0.1 part per million (ppm).
Lithium is also found in pegmatite ores, such
as spodumene(LiAlSi2O6) and lepidolite (of varying
structure), or in amblygonite(LiAlFPO4) ores, with Li2O
contents ranging between 4 and 8.5 percent.
It constitutes about 0.002 percent of Earth’s crust.

VALENCE ELECTRON: 1
Symbol: Li
Atomic number: 3
Electrons per shell: 2,1
Atomic mass: 6.941 u
Molar mass: 6.941 g/mol
Did you know: A number of the lithium compounds have
practical applications. 
SODIUM
Sodium (Na), chemical element of the alkali
metal group (Group 1 [Ia]) of the periodic table.
Sodium is a very soft silvery-white metal. Sodium is
the most common alkali metal and the sixth most
abundant element on Earth, comprising 2.8 percent of
Earth’s crust. It occurs abundantly in nature
in compounds, especially common salt—sodium chloride
(NaCl)—which forms the
mineral halite and constitutes about 80 percent of the
dissolved constituents of seawater.

Sodium is a chemical element with symbol Na and atomic

number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive
metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of
the periodic table, because it has a single electron in
its outer shell that it readily donates, creating a
positively charged ion—the Na⁺ cation. 

ORIGIN
Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the
periodic table, because it has a single electron in its
outer shell that it readily donates, creating a
positively charged ion—the Na+ cation. ... Sodium was
first isolated by Humphry Davy in 1807 by the
electrolysis of sodium hydroxide.

Symbol: Na
Atomic number: 11
Van der Waals radius: 227 pm
Atomic mass: 22.989769 u
Discovered: 1807
Did you know: Sodium imparts an intense yellow color to
flames.

POTASSIUM
Potassium (K), chemical element of Group 1 (Ia) of
the periodic table, the alkali metal group, indispensable
for both plant and animal life. Potassium was the first
metal to be isolated by electrolysis, by the English
chemist Sir Humphry Davy, when he obtained the element
(1807) by decomposing molten potassium hydroxide (KOH)
with a voltaic battery

Potassium is a chemical element with symbol K and

atomic number 19. It was first isolated from potash,
the ashes of plants, from which its name derives. In
the periodic table, potassium is one of the alkali
metals.

ORIGIN
Potassium was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1807
at England. Origin of name: from the English word
"potash" (pot ashes) and the Arabic word "qali" meaning
alkali (the origin of the symbol K comes from the Latin
word "kalium").

Symbol: K
Atomic number: 19
Atomic mass: 39.0983 u
Discovered: 1807
Discoverer: Humphry Davy
Did you know: Fruit and vegetables are the best sources
of potassium.

RUBIDIUM
Rubidium (Rb), chemical element of Group 1 (Ia) in
the periodic table, the alkali metal group. Rubidium is
the second most reactive metal and is very soft, with a
silvery-white lustre.

Rubidium is a chemical element with symbol Rb and

atomic number 37. Rubidium is a soft, silvery-white
metallic element of the alkali metal group, with a
standard atomic weight of 85.4678. Elemental rubidium
is highly reactive, with properties similar to those of
other alkali metals, including rapid oxidation in
air. Wikipedia

ORIGIN
Rubidium was discovered by the German chemists Robert
Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff in 1861 while analyzing
samples of the mineral lepidolite (KLi2Al(Al, Si)3O10(F,
OH)2) with a device called a spectroscope. The sample
produced a set of deep red spectral lines they had
never seen before.
Symbol: Rb
Atomic number: 37
Electron configuration: [Kr] 5s1
Atomic mass: 85.4678 u
Discovered: 1861
Did you know: Rubidium ignites spontaneously when
exposed to air and reacts violently with water,
releasing hydrogen, which immediately bursts into
flames. 

CESIUM
Cesium (Cs), also spelled caesium, chemical
element of Group 1 (also called Group Ia) of
the periodic table, the alkali metal group, and the
first element to be discovered spectroscopically
(1860), by German scientists Robert Bunsen and Gustav
Kirchhoff, who named it for the unique blue lines of
its spectrum (Latin caesius, “sky-blue”).

Caesium or cesium is a chemical element with symbol Cs

and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali
metal with a melting point of 28.5 °C, which makes it
one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at or
near room temperature. 

ORIGIN
Cesium is found in the minerals pollucite and
lepidolite. Pollucite is found in great quantities
at Bernic Lake, Manitoba, Canada and in the USA, and
from this source the element can be prepared. However,
most commercial production is as a by-product of
lithium production.
Symbol: Cs
Atomic number: 55
Atomic mass: 132.90545 u
Electron configuration: [Xe] 6s1
Van der Waals radius: 300 pm
Did you know: It was discovered in 1860 by Robert
Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff. 

FRANCIUM
Francium (Fr), heaviest chemical element of Group 1
(Ia) in the periodic table, the alkali metal group. It
exists only in short-lived radioactive forms. Natural
francium cannot be isolated in visible, weighable
amounts, for only 24.5 grams (0.86 ounce) occur at any
time in the entire crust of Earth. The existence of
francium was predicted by Russian chemist Dmitry I.
Mendeleyev in his periodic classification of the
elements. French chemist Marguerite Perey discovered
francium (1939) while studying actinium-227, which decays
by negative beta decay (electron emission) to
an isotope of thorium (thorium-227) and by alpha emission
(about 1 percent) into an isotope of francium (francium-
223) that was formerly called actinium K (AcK) and is a
member of the actinium decay series. Though it is the
longest-lived isotope of francium, francium-223 has
a half-life of only 22 minutes.

ORIGIN
Francium was discovered by Marguerite Perey in 1939
when she was researching the radioactive decay of
actinium-227. The discovery took place at the Curie
Institute in Paris. The element takes its name from the
country of its discovery –France.
Atomic number: 87
Atomic mass: 223 u
Electron configuration: [Rn] 7s1
Discovered: 1939
Did you know: Less than thirty grams of francium exists on Earth
at any given time.