C4 Lesson 3 homework

Group 1-Lithium, sodium, potassium - reactions with water:

All of these metals react vigorously or even explosively with cold water. In each case, a
solution of the metal hydroxide is produced together with hydrogen gas.

This equation applies to any of these metals and water.

Lithium
Lithium's density is only about half that of water so it floats on the surface, gently fizzing
and giving off hydrogen. It gradually reacts and disappears, forming a colourless solution of
lithium hydroxide. The reaction generates heat too slowly and lithium's melting point is too
high for it to melt (see sodium below).
Sodium
Sodium also floats on the surface, but enough heat is given off to melt the sodium (sodium
has a lower melting point than lithium and the reaction produces heat faster) and it melts
almost at once to form a small silvery ball that dashes around the surface. A white trail of
sodium hydroxide is seen in the water under the sodium, but this soon dissolves to give a
colourless solution of sodium hydroxide.
The sodium moves because it is pushed around by the hydrogen which is given off during
the reaction. If the sodium becomes trapped on the side of the container, the hydrogen may
catch fire to burn with an orange flame. The colour is due to contamination of the normally
blue hydrogen flame with sodium compounds.
Potassium
Potassium behaves rather like sodium except that the reaction is faster and enough heat is
given off to set light to the hydrogen. This time the normal hydrogen flame is contaminated
by potassium compounds and so is coloured lilac (a faintly bluish pink).
The reactivity of the alkali metals increases down the group. Lithium is the least reactive and
potassium is the most reactive of the three. The hydrogen ignites immediately during the
reaction between potassium and water with the potassium producing a lilac coloured flame.
Reactions with oxygen:
Lithium
Lithium burns with a strongly red-tinged flame if heated in air. It reacts with oxygen in the
air to give white lithium oxide. With pure oxygen, the flame would simply be more intense.

Sodium
Small pieces of sodium burn in air with often little more than an orange glow. Using larger
amounts of sodium or burning it in oxygen gives a strong orange flame. You get a white solid
mixture of sodium oxide and sodium peroxide.

Potassium
Small pieces of potassium heated in air tend to just melt and turn instantly into a mixture of
potassium peroxide and potassium superoxide without any flame being seen. Larger pieces
of potassium burn with a lilac flame.

Reaction with Chlorine:

Sodium burns with an intense orange flame in chlorine in exactly the same way that it does
in pure oxygen. The rest also behave the same in both gases.