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The alkali metals are silvery colored, soft, low density metals, which react readily with halogens to form ionic salts, and with water to form strongly alkalineThe word alkali can mean In chemistry, an alkali is the solution of a base in water. Since a base is defined as a substance which yields or creates hydroxide ions when dissolved in water, an alkali is a solution of hydroxide anions and their corresponding (basic)A base is a chemical compound that either donates hydroxide ions or absorbs hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Bases and acids are referred to as opposites because the effect of an acid is to increase the hydronium ion concentration in water, whereas hydroxideHydroxide is a functional group consisting of oxygen and hydrogen: :-O−H It has a charge of 1-. The term hydroxyl group is used when the functional group -OH is counted as a substituent of an organic compound. Organic molecules containing a hydroxyls. These elements all have one electronThe electron (also called negatron commonly represented as e&minus is a subatomic particle. In an atom the electrons surround the nucleus of protons and neutrons in an electron configuration. Electrons have the smallest electrical charge and when they mov in their outermost shell, so the energetically preferred state of achieving a filled electron shell is to lose one electron to form a singly chargedElectric charge is a fundamental property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interactions. It is one of the quantum numbers. Matter that possesses a charge is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields. The intera positive ion.
Hydrogen, with a solitary electron, is sometimes placed at the top of Group 1, but it is not an alkali metal; rather it exists naturally as a diatomic gasFor other meanings see gas (disambiguation). A gas is one of the phases of matter. Gases are, like liquids, fluids: they have the ability to flow and do not resist deformation. Unlike liquids, however, unconstrained gases do not occupy a fixed volume, but. Removal of its single electron requires considerably more energy than removal of the outer electron for the alkali metals. As in the halogens, only one additional electron is required to fill in the outermost shell of the hydrogen atom, so hydrogen can in some circumstances behave like a halogen, forming the negative hydride ion. Binary compounds of hydride with the alkali metals and some transition metals have been prepared.Under extremely high pressure, such as is found at the core of Jupiter, hydrogen does become metallic and behaves like an alkali metal, see metallic hydrogen.
Chemical element groups