Edexcel IGCSE Chemistry

16 - Group 1 Elements
The Alkali Metals

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 Group 1 Elements - The Alkali Metals
● Specification Point 2.1
○ Understand how the similarities in the reactions of the group 1 elements with water provide evidence for their
recognition as a family of elements.
● Elements in group 1 are called the alkali metals.
○ Examples of alkali metals include lithium (Li), sodium (Na) and potassium (K).
● The alkali metals all react vigorously with water.
○ Alkali metals react with water to produce an alkaline solution.
● Alkali metals react with water to form a metal hydroxide and hydrogen (H2) gas.

Take the reaction of sodium with water:

Na (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2NaOH (aq) + H2 (g)

2 moles of sodium hydroxide are formed, as well as a single mole of hydrogen gas.

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Alkali metals like sodium are
dull are soft, with relatively
low densities and melting
points.

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 Group 1 Elements - The Alkali Metals
● The alkali metals also react with oxygen (O2) in the air to produce metal oxides.
○ This is why alkali metals will tarnish when exposed to the air.
● Different types of oxide will form depending on the alkali metal.

Metal Metal Oxide Formed

Lithium (Li) Lithium oxide (Li2O)

A mixture of sodium oxide (Na2O) and

Sodium (Na)
sodium peroxide (Na2O2)

A mixture of potassium peroxide (K2O2)

Potassium (K)
and potassium superoxide (KO2)

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 Elements in group 1 are called the alkali metals. This is because they react
vigorously with water to form alkaline solutions of metal hydroxide.

GROUP 1

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Some alkali metals (in this case sodium), react violently when they come into contact with water.

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 Reactivity of Alkali Metals
● Specification Points 2.2 and 2.3
○ Understand how the differences between the reactions of the alkali metals with air and water provide evidence for
the trend in reactivity in group 1.
○ Use knowledge of trends in group 1 to predict the properties of other alkali metals.
● All the alkali metals have similar properties:
○ They have relatively low densities.
○ They are soft and malleable.
○ They are very reactive.
● The alkali metals become more reactive as you move down the group.
○ Lithium is less reactive than sodium, which is less reactive than potassium and so on.
● Reactions with water become more vigorous the further down the group.
○ Lithium will gently fizz on contact with water.
○ Sodium fizzes strongly on contact with water, the hydrogen produced may burn to produce a yellow flame.
○ Potassium may ignite on contact with water, burning to produce a lilac flame.

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 Reactivity of Alkali Metals
● Reactions with oxygen become quicker the further down the group.
○ Potassium will react with oxygen more quickly than either lithium or sodium when exposed to
air.
● These trends can be used to predict the reactivity of other alkali metals.
○ Reactivity with both water and oxygen is expected to increase as we move down group 1.
● Caesium (Cs) is located near the bottom of group 1.
○ It is therefore expected to be one of the most reactive of the alkali metals.
○ Caesium explodes on contact with water.
○ Caesium immediately tarnishes in contact with oxygen to form caesium oxide (Cs2O).

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Caesium is so reactive that
it explodes on contact
with water.

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 Reactivity and Electron Configurations
● Specification Point 2.4C
○ Explain the trend in reactivity in group 1 in terms of electronic configurations.
● Alkali metals have 1 outer shell electron.
○ This is why they are located in group 1 of the periodic table.
● As you go down the group, the number of electron shells increases.
○ Every element in group 1 has 1 more electron shell than the preceding element.
● As the number of shells increases, the distance from the nucleus also increases.
○ This means that the forces of attraction between the outer shell electron and the nucleus become weaker.
○ The weaker the attraction, the easier it is for the outer shell electron to be lost.
● As a result, alkali metals become more reactive as you move down the group.

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 Cs

As we move down group 1, there are an

Rb increasing number of electron shells.
ATOMIC RADIUS →

K
This means that the attraction between the
nucleus and outer shell electron becomes
Na
weaker moving down the group.

The outer shell electron is lost more easily,

increasing the reactivity of the element.

REACTIVITY →

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 Lithium has 2 electron Sodium has 3 electron Potassium has 4 electron
shells so is least reactive. shells so is more reactive shells so is more reactive
than lithium. than sodium.

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