Which alkaline metal is the most reactive

Do magnesium, aluminium and zinc react with water? How does the metal activity series relate to single displacement reactions? Is iron one of the most reactive metals according to the metal activity series? How does the metal activity series relate to corrosion? Why is hydrogen included in the metal activity series? What is the metal activity series based on? See all questions in Metal Activity Series. Impact of this question views around the world.

They also have low boiling points, explaining why they are gases at room temperature. Radon, at the bottom of the group, is radioactive, so it constantly decays to other elements.

For an excellent overview of the noble gases, watch the video at this URL:. Q: Based on their position in the periodic table Figure above , how many valence electrons do you think noble gases have?

A: The number of valence electrons starts at one for elements in group 1. It then increases by one from left to right across each period row of the periodic table for groups 1—2 and 13— Therefore, noble gases have eight valence electrons.

Noble gases are the least reactive of all known elements. The only exception is helium, which has just two electrons. But helium also has a full outer energy level , because its only energy level energy level 1 can hold a maximum of two electrons.

A full outer energy level is the most stable arrangement of electrons. As a result, noble gases cannot become more stable by reacting with other elements and gaining or losing valence electrons. Therefore, noble gases are rarely involved in chemical reactions and almost never form compounds with other elements. Noble Gases and the Octet Rule.

Because the noble gases are the least reactive of all elements, their eight valence electrons are used as the standard for nonreactivity and to explain how other elements interact.

According to this rule, atoms react to form compounds that allow them to have a group of eight valence electrons like the noble gases. For example, sodium with one valence electron reacts with chlorine with seven valence electrons to form the stable compound sodium chloride table salt.

In this reaction, sodium donates an electron and chlorine accepts it, giving each element an octet of valence electrons. Did you ever get helium balloons like those in the opening picture? A: Helium atoms have just two protons , two neutrons , and two electrons, so they have less mass than any other atoms except hydrogen.

As a result, helium is lighter than air, explaining why a helium balloon floats up into the air unless weighted down. The filaments quickly burned out. Oxygen in the small amount of air remaining inside the light bulb reacted with the metal filament. This corroded the filament and caused dark deposits on the glass. Filling a light bulb with argon gas prevents these problems.

This protects the filament and keeps the glass blub free of deposits. Noble gases are also used to fill the glass tubes of lighted signs like the one in the Figure below.

Although noble gases are chemically nonreactive, their electrons can be energized by sending an electric current through them. When this happens, the electrons jump to a higher energy level. When the electrons return to their original energy level, they give off energy as light. Different noble gases give off light of different colors.

Krypton gives off violet light and xenon gives off blue light. This is the most stable arrangement of electrons, so noble gases rarely react with other elements and form compounds.

Compare and contrast the reactivity of the elements helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon. Compare the density of these noble gases to the density of air. Describe how the mass of noble gases changes from the top to the bottom of group Explain why noble gases are almost completely nonreactive. What is the octet rule? How is it related to noble gases? Helium atoms have two electrons and exist only as single helium atoms.

Explain why hydrogen and helium differ in this way. For technical questions and comments regarding this website, including accessibility concerns, please contact the Webmaster.

What part of the page would you like to print? Skip To Main Content. Sharing Print Page. Follow us Share on Facebook. Open Menu. Chromebooks for Education Technology Staff. Close Subscribe. Site Translator. Some files on this web site may require Adobe Acrobat Reader - download free.

All Rights Reserved. Moseley solved one of chemistry's greatest puzzles - determining what distinguishes elements from one another and developed a means of identifying elements based on their atomic characteristics.

Sadly he lost his life fighting at Gallipoli in WWI. Learn more about his life and legacy by watching our online film here. The alkaline earth metals are the second most reactive family of elements. Beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium and radium are all shiny, and silvery-white.

They all have low densities, melting points and boiling points, and they tend to form solutions with a pH greater than 7. Beryllium is the only alkaline earth metal not to react with water. One of its naturally occurring compounds is emerald.

Calcium is needed for healthy bones, and plants need magnesium to form the chlorophyll molecules they use for photosynthesis. Strontium is important to sea life, particularly for hard corals, which use strontium to build their exoskeletons. Radioactive radium was discovered by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre, and was used in glow-in-the-dark paint until the s!

Calcium is the third most abundant metal in Earth's crust and the fifth most abundant element. Calcium carbonate is the most common calcium compound on Earth.

It is found in limestone and the fossilised remains of prehistoric sea creatures. Other sources of calcium include gypsum, anhydrite, fluorite, and apatite. The name calcium derives from the Latin word calx, meaning ''lime'', which was made by heating limestone. Pure calcium was isolated in by Humphry Davy and is highly reactive. Calcium compounds have many industrial uses, including calcium supplementation in food and medicines - calcium ions are electrolytes, with a vital role in the physiological and biochemical processes of organisms.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, but we don't yet understand what causes the disease, or how to treat it. Alzheimer's causes amyloid plaques to form in the brain that disrupt its normal function, and researchers used X-ray spectromicroscopy on the Scanning X-ray Microscopy beamline I08 to characterise the precise distribution and chemical state of iron and calcium compounds within amyloid plaques.

Their study revealed, in unprecedented detail at nanoscale resolution, the properties of iron and calcium compounds in plaques from individuals who had Alzheimer's disease.

Their findings extend current hypotheses about how these and other metallic species may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease and could help direct future innovative diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Read more here. Materials such as seashells, teeth and bones often have remarkable physical properties that are far better than those of equivalent artificially produced substances.