Why do alkali metals react with water

References P E Mason et al , Nat. Topics alkali metals high speed photography Matter Reactions and synthesis. Related articles. Opinion Battery diagnostics TZ Analytical progress helps batteries shed their black box image. News Latest microscopy videos will show chemistry from another angle TZ Close-up footage to explore unexpected side of simple chemical transformations.

Podcast Solvated electrons TZ Blue flashes and metallic water are just some of the tricks associated with the unleashed electron. Load more articles. No comments yet. You're not signed in. To link your comment to your profile, sign in now. Only registered users can comment on this article. Now, thanks to images captured with a high-speed camera, chemists can finally explain it. The experiment only works with elements that are alkali metals.

This group includes sodium and potassium. These elements show up in the first column of the periodic table. In nature, these common metals occur only in combination with other elements. So they easily undergo reactions with other materials. And those reactions may be violent. Textbooks typically explain the metal-water reaction in simple terms: When water hits the metal, the metal releases electrons.

These negatively charged particles generate heat as they leave the metal. Along the way, they also break apart the water molecules. That reaction releases atoms of hydrogen, a particularly explosive element. When the hydrogen meets the heat — ka-POW! To find that missing puzzle piece, he turned to videos of these high-speed events.

In the fraction of a second before the explosion, spikes appear to grow from the smooth surface of the metal. These spikes launch a chain reaction that leads to the blast. Their discovery helped Jungwirth and his team understand how such a big blast could erupt from such a simple reaction.

Their findings appear in the January 26 Nature Chemistry. Chemist Philip Mason works with Jungwirth. He knew that old textbook explanation of what caused the explosion.

As mentioned earlier, many Group 1 and Group 2 oxides react with water to form metal hydroxides. The nonmetal oxides react with water to form oxoacids. Examples include phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid. Generally halogens react with water to give their halides and hypohalides.

The halogen gases vary in their reactions with water due to their different electronegativities. The products of this reaction include oxygen gas and hydrogen fluoride.

Free for Educational Use only, chemlegin. Alkali Metals Oxides and Water Oxides of Group 1 elements also react with water to create basic solutions. Alkali Metal Hydrides and Water Similarly to the Group 1 oxides, the hydrides of the Group 1 elements react with water to form a basic solution. Alkaline Earth Metal Oxides and Water Similarly to the alkali metal oxides, alkaline earth metal monoxides combine with water to form metal hydroxide salts as illustrated in the equation below.

Alkaline Earth Metal Hydrides and Water With the exception of beryllium Be , the alkaline metal hydrides react with water to produce the metal hydroxide and hydrogen gas. Group Boron Family Group 13 elements are not very reactive with water.

Group Carbon Family For the most part, Group 14 elements do not react with water. Figure: An empty tin can. Steel cans are made of tinplate tin-coated steel or of tin-free steel. Group Nitrogen Family The pure elements in this family do not tend to react with water. Group Oxygen Family As mentioned earlier, many Group 1 and Group 2 oxides react with water to form metal hydroxides. Group Halogens Generally halogens react with water to give their halides and hypohalides. Group Noble Gases The noble gases do not react with water.

References Birk, James P. Washington: American Chemical Society, Huheey, James E. Keiter, and Richard L. Inorganic Chemistry: Principles of Structure and Relativity. New York: HarperCollins College, Massey, A. Main Group Chemistry. London: Ellis Horwodd,