Potassium Periodic Table is the 4th element in the 1st column of the periodic table. It is classified as an alkali metal. Potassium atoms have 19 electrons and 19 protons with one valence electron in the outer shell. Potassium is considered chemically similar to sodium, the alkali metal above it on the periodic table.
Characteristics and Properties
Under normal conditions, potassium is a soft silvery-white metal. It is very soft that it can be easily cut with a knife. When it is cut, the exposed metal tarnishes quickly and forms a dull oxide coating. When it burns, it produces a pale purple-colored flame. Potassium also has a very low density and is the second least dense metal after lithium. It is very light, so it can float in water.
Chemically, Potassium Periodic Table is a very active metal. It reacts violently when coming into contact with water, producing heat and hydrogen gas. It also reacts with many other elements and substances such as oxygen, acids, sulfur, fluorine, and nitrogen.
Where Is Potassium Found on Earth?
Because Potassium Periodic Table reacts so readily with water, it is not found in its elemental form in nature. Instead, it is found in various minerals such as sylvite, carnallite, langbeinite, and kainite. Most minerals that contain potassium are referred to as potash.
Making up about 2.1% of the weight of the Earth’s crust, potassium is the eighth-most abundant element in the crust. It can also be found in ocean water where it is also about the eighth most abundant element.
Chemical Properties of Potassium
Potassium comes from the salt potash from which potassium was first isolated. The K symbol for the element comes from the Latin word “kalium”, which stands for potash.
Potassium Periodic Table Symbol
Who Discovered Potassium & Where is Potassium Found
Potassium was first discovered by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy in 1807. Sir Humphry Davy used electricity to separate the element from the salt potash. Because potassium reacts so readily with water, it is not found in its elemental form in nature. Instead, it is found in various minerals such as sylvite, carnallite, langbeinite, and kainite. Most minerals that contain potassium are referred to as potash.
Making up about 2.1% of the weight of the Earth’s crust, Potassium Periodic Table is the eighth-most abundant element in the crust. It can also be found in ocean water where it is also about the eighth most abundant element.
Facts About Potassium Periodic Table
Potassium chloride (KCl) is sometimes used as a substitute for table salt.
The USDA recommends that adults consume 4.7 grams of potassium each day. A small amount of potassium can taste sweet. A higher concentration can taste bitter or salty.
Potassium bicarbonate is the chemical name for baking soda. It is used in fire extinguishers, baking powders, and antacids. Some good sources of potassium in our diet include bananas, avocados, nuts, chocolate, parsley, and potatoes.
What Are The 3 Uses of Potassium?
95%(most of them) of the potassium is used into fertilizers and the remaining mainly goes into making potassium hydroxide, by the electrolysis of potassium chloride solution, and then converting this into potassium carbonate. Potassium carbonate goes into glass manufacturing, especially the glass which is used to make televisions, while potassium hydroxide is used to make liquid soaps and detergents. A little potassium chloride goes into pharmaceuticals, medical drips & saline injections.
Other potassium salts are used in baking, photography and tanning leather, and also to make iodize salts. In all cases, it is the negative anion, not the potassium, which is the key to their use.
Potassium Periodic Table
Combining nitrogen and phosphorus, potassium is one of the essential macrominerals for plant survival. Its presence is very important for soil health, plant growth, and animal nutrition. Its primary function in the plant is its role in the maintenance of osmotic pressure and cell size, thereby influencing photosynthesis and energy production as well as stomatal opening and carbon dioxide supply, plant turgor, and translocation of nutrients. The element is required in comparatively large proportions by the growing plant.
The result of low Potassium Periodic Table levels is evident in numerous symptoms like restricted growth, reduced flowering, lower yields, and lower quality products.
What is Potassium on the Periodic Table?
- Atomic number
- 19
- Atomic mass
- 39.0983 g.mol -1
Electronegativity According To Pauling
- 0.8
- Density
- 0.86 g.cm -3 at 0 °C
- Melting point
- 63.2 °C
- Boiling point
- 760 °C
- Van der Waals radius
- 0.235 nm
- Ionic radius
- 0.133 (+1)
- Isotopes
- 5
- Electronic shell
- [ Ar ] 4s1
The energy of first ionization
- 418.6 kJ.mol -1
- Discovered by
- Sir Davy in 1808
What are 5 Interesting Facts About Potassium?
Potassium chloride (KCl) is sometimes used as a substitute for table salt. The USDA recommends that adults consume 4.7 grams of potassium each day. A small amount of potassium can taste sweet. A higher concentration can taste bitter or salty.
Potassium bicarbonate is the chemical name for baking soda. It is used in fire extinguishers, baking powders, and antacids. Some good sources of Potassium Periodic Table in our diet include bananas, avocados, nuts, chocolate, parsley, and potatoes.