Alkali Metals (7)

The Alkali Metals comprise the left-most column of the periodic table. As a rule, you wouldn't want any around the house in pure form, though as a compound they can be quite tasty. Hydrogen is an anomaly: It's traditional to put it in this column, but it really has very little in common with the rest. The others are soft metals that react violently with water to release hydrogen gas, which either bubbles off or spontaneously ignites depending on how far down you are on the table.

Click any element tile below to get the full entry for that element, or click on the sample picture to go directly to the description of that sample.

Text and images Copyright (c) 2010 by Theodore W. Gray.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen
Lithium
Lithium
Sodium
Sodium
Potassium
Potassium
Rubidium
Rubidium
Cesium
Cesium
Francium
Francium