alkaline

Adjective alkaline is used to qualify what has alkali. An alkali, on the other hand, is a metallic type hydroxide that acts like base strong and has great solubility when in water.

Moving a little further with the definition, we must bear in mind that a hydroxide is a compound which is constituted by the union of the anion OH- with a radical or a chemical element.

The alkalis, therefore, are composed of the hydroxides known as alkalis. It involves six elements: francius, the cesium, the rubidium, the potassium, the sodium and the lithium. These alkalis can be identified in the periodic table Within the group 1A.

Each alkaline has a unique electron in its outer energetic layer. Due to the low ionization energy and the reduced electronic affinity, alkalis tend to lose this electron, forming a monopositive ion.

In the natureAlkalines cannot be found as free elements, but they always appear in combination.

Between the alkaline properties, we can highlight the following:

* they effectively conduct electricity and heat;

* being in contact with oxygen and water, they react immediately;

* form hydroxides when they react with Water;

* the silver color and the own shine of a metal can be appreciated when they are melted or cut;

* These are metals of a low density;

* its color is silvery-white;

* their melting points they are low and decrease as we descend in the group;

* they are soft metals;

* from a chemical point of view, they are the most reactive metals. For this reason, they are not found in nature in the free state, but generally appear as salts.

When looking at the periodic table, we notice that the first element is hydrogen, which we represent with the letter H. It is one of the rarest on the list, because it has only one electron in all its shells. Justly, not easy to assign this item to a group, since on the one hand it gathers all the properties that characterize alkali metals, such as having an electron left over, but also halogens, due to not having a sufficient number of electrons to present the setting of a noble gas.

Lithium, on the other hand, is the third element and is an alkali metal proper, with an oxidation number +1. In its Cortex, has three electrons; in its first layer, with two and in the second, with one. It was discovered in the early 19th century and It is the lightest solid metal in the world. Its melting point is low, it is soft and, as a good alkali metal, it is very reactive. At present, lithium is abundant on our planet and several of its properties make it more similar to the group of metals alkaline earths, among which are magnesium, calcium and beryllium.

With respect to sodium, we can say that its atomic number is 11, the number of electrons that are distributed in its shell. In proportion to the other alkali metals, it is the fourth most abundant on Earth, and it is found especially in sea salt. When exposed to more than 40 ° C, it burns.

Is named alkaline battery to the one that uses potassium hydroxide in the way of electrolyte, generating a chemical reaction between manganese dioxide and zinc that allows it to obtain Energy. The saline batteriesInstead, they use zinc chloride or ammonium chloride as the electrolyte, although they all provide the same nominal voltage.