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Question
What are the common physical features of alkali metals?
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Solution
Physical properties of alkali metals are as follows.
- They are quite soft and can be cut easily. Sodium metal can be easily cut using a knife.
- They are light coloured and are mostly silvery-white in appearance.
- They have low density because of their large atomic sizes. The density increases down the group from Li to Cs. The only exception to this is K, which has a lower density than Na.
- The metallic bonding present in alkali metals is quite weak. Therefore, they have low melting and boiling points.
- Alkali metals and their salts impart a characteristic colour to flames. This is because the heat from the flame excites the electron present in the outermost orbital to a high energy level. When this excited electron reverts back to the ground state, it emits excess energy as radiation that falls in the visible region.
- They also display a photoelectric effects. When metals such as Cs and K are irradiated with light, they lose electrons.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Why are potassium and cesium, rather than lithium used in photoelectric cells?
Why are lithium salts commonly hydrated and those of the other alkali metal ions usually anhydrous?
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The alkali metals are low melting. Which of the following alkali metal is expected to melt if the room temperature rises to 30°C?
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By adding gypsum to cement
Metallic elements are described by their standard electrode potential, fusion enthalpy, atomic size, etc. The alkali metals are characterised by which of the following properties?
(i) High boiling point.
(ii) High negative standard electrode potential.
(iii) High density.
(iv) Large atomic size.
When heated in air, the alkali metals form various oxides. Mention the oxides formed by Li, Na and K.
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When a metal of group 1 was dissolved in liquid ammonia, the following observations were obtained:
(i) Blue solution was obtained initially.
(ii) On concentrating the solution, blue colour changed to bronze colour.
How do you account for the blue colour of the solution? Give the name of the product formed on keeping the solution for some time.
The ease of absorption of the hydrated alkali metals ions in an ion-exchange resin follows the order:
Match List-I with List-II.
| List-I | List-II |
| (Metal) | (Application) |
| (a) Cs | (I) High temperature thermometer |
| (b) Ga | (II) Water repellent sprays |
| (c) B | (III) Photoelectric cells |
| (d) Si | (IV) Bullet proof vest |
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
The metal mainly used in devising photoelectric cells is ______.
The correct order of hydration enthapies of alkali metal ions is ______.
The correct order of conductivity of ions in water is ______.
KO2 (potassium super oxide) is used in oxygen cylinders in space and submarines because it ______.
Alkali metals are powerful reducing agents because ______.
