Lithium is what type of element

Because the alkali metals are very reactive, they are seldom if ever found in their elemental form in nature, and are usually found as ionic compounds except for hydrogen.

The alkali metals have only one valence electron in their highest-energy orbitals ns 1. In their respective periods, they are the largest elements and have the lowest ionization energies.

They are also relatively soft metals: sodium and potassium can be cut with a butter knife. Salts of the Group 1A elements tend to be extremely soluble in water. Because the alkali metal ions are relatively large compared to other ions from the same period , their charges densities are low, and they are easily separated from their anions and solvated by polar solvents like water.

The alkali metals again, except for hydrogen react vigorously with water, producing the metal hydroxide, hydrogen gas, and heat. Heat plus hydrogen in an oxygen atmosphere is, of course, a very dangerous combination! The reaction becomes more vigorous as one moves from top to bottom in Group 1A: lithium sizzles fiercely in water, a small amount of sodium reacts even more vigorously, and even a small amount of potassium metal reacts violently and usually ignites the hydrogen gas; rubidium and cesium explode.

This is a result of the fact that the size of the element increases as we move down the group: as the size of the metal increases, the valence electron is farther away from the nucleus, and is thus more easily removed i. Although hydrogen is placed at the top of Group 1A in most versions of the periodic table, it is very different from the other members of the alkali metal group. In its elemental form, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, extremely flammable gas at room temperature, consisting of diatomic molecules of H 2.

Under tremendous pressure about 2 million atmospheres , it can be converted to a metallic form, capable of conducting electricity. It has been theorized that center of the planet Jupiter consists of metallic hydrogen. In the Earth's crust, it is found at a concentration of ppm mostly in the form water and of organic compounds , making it the 10th most abundant element. Of course, there's also "dark matter" and "dark energy" to worry about, but that's another story. Hydrogen, helium, and trace amounts of lithium were produced at the beginning of the Universe in the Big Bang, and became concentrated into stars by the force of gravity.

The fusion of hydrogen and its isotopes see below also powers the hydrogen bomb, which contains lithium deuteride LiD and tritium; the explosion of a fission-powered bomb produces neutrons which initiate fusion of the deuterium with the tritium, releasing vast amounts of energy. Research into achieving controlled nuclear fusion to generate electricity is being conducted, but the extremely high temperatures that are necessary to initiate the fusion reactions present a major challenge to physicists.

Hydrogen typically does not form cations, but instead forms compounds through covalent bonding. Hydrogen can form bonds to many other elements, such as nitrogen NH 3 and its derivatives , oxygen H 2 O and sulfur H 2 S , the halogens HX , and carbon, where it is found in millions of different hydrocarbons and other organic molecules almost all organic molecules contain at least some hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen can also bond to metal atoms, such as lithium LiH , calcium CaH 2 , etc.

In these compounds, the bonding is usually pictured as a metal cation combined with a hydride anion H -. On some periodic tables, in fact, hydrogen is placed at the top of Group 7A, since like the halogens, it can form a -1 charge.

Hydrogen is also found in acids , which are molecules containing easily-removed hydrogen atoms, usually connected to oxygen, nitrogen, or a halogen.

This is a greatly oversimplified explanation of acid-base chemistry. Hydrogen was discovered by the English chemist Henry Cavendish in ; hydrogen had been observed before, but Cavendish was the first to recognize not only that it was an element, but that it burned to form water, which also provided conclusive proof that water was not itself an element.

The name "hydrogen" was derived by the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier from the Greek words hydro "water" and genes "forming". There are three isotopes of hydrogen. Hydrogen-1, or protium , contains one proton in its nucleus, and is by far the most common form of hydrogen Hydrogen-2, or deuterium , contains one proton and one neutron in its nucleus, and comprises the remaining 0.

Hydrogen-3, or tritium , contains one proton and two neutrons, and is only found in trace amounts; it is produced by the interaction of cosmic rays on gases in the upper atmosphere, and in nuclear explosions, but since it has a half life of only Heavy water is water made from two atoms of deuterium and one atom of oxygen.

This form of water is literally heavier than "ordinary" water, since an atom of deuterium is twice as heavy as an atom of "regular" hydrogen. H 2 O has a molar mass of Ordinary water contains about 1 molecule of D 2 O for every molecules of H 2 O. The electrolysis of water concentrates D 2 O in the solution, since the lighter isotope evaporates from the solution slightly faster.

Successive electrolysis experiments allow pure heavy water to be produced, but it takes about , gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of heavy water by this method. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactions: it slows down fast-moving neutrons, allowing them to be captured more easily by other nuclei.

The generation of heavy water was important during the research on nuclear fission that went into the Manhattan Project during World War II. For a typical person, a fatal dose would require drinking nothing but heavy water for 10 to 14 days, so it's pretty doubtful that heavy water poisoning will be featured on CSI anytime soon.

Most hydrogen is prepared industrially be reacting coal or hydrocarbons with steam at high temperatures to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is called synthesis gas , and can be used in manufacturing methanol.

On smaller scales it can be produced by the reaction of active metals such as zinc, calcium, etc. Hydrogen gas is combined with nitrogen in the Haber process to synthesize ammonia NH 3 , which is widely used in fertilizers. It is also used in the manufacture of hydrogenated vegetable oils; in this reaction, hydrogen atoms add to the carbon-carbon double bonds in the vegetable oils double-bonded carbons bond to fewer hydrogen atoms than single-bonded carbons — i.

Another use for hydrogen is in rocket fuels: the Saturn V rockets that launched the Apollo lunar missions used , gallons of kerosene and , gallons of liquid oxygen in its first stage S-IC , , gallons of liquid hydrogen and 83, gallons of liquid oxygen in its second stage S-II , and 69, gallons of liquid hydrogen and 20, gallons of liquid oxygen in its third S-IVB stage; the Space Shuttle main engines use , gallons of liquid hydrogen and , gallons of liquid oxygen.

Hydrogen is lighter than air, and was used in balloons and dirigibles also known as airships or zeppelins. Dirigibles were used in city-to-city air travel in the early s, and in trans-Atlantic crossings in the s and s. During World War I, German zeppelins were used in bombing runs over England, since they could fly higher than the British planes. On May 6, , the German dirigible Hindenburg caught fire as it came in for a landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey; 35 people out of the 97 aboard and one person on the ground were killed.

The exact cause of the fire is still the subject of speculation, but the disaster signaled the beginning of the end for airship travel.

Modern "blimps" use helium to provide lift, which avoids the problem of hydrogen's flammability. Molecules which contain hydrogen bonded to nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine can attract one another through the formation of hydrogen bonds. Since the end of World War II, lithium production has greatly increased. The metal is separated from other elements in igneous rocks, and is also extracted from the water of mineral springs.

Lepidolite, spodumene, petalite, and amblygonite are the more important minerals containing it. In the United States lithium is recovered from brine pools in the dry Searles Lake, in California, and from places in Nevada and elsewhere. The metal, which is silvery in appearance like sodium, potassium and other members of the alkali metal series, is produced electrolytically from a mixture of fused lithium and potassium chloride. Naturally occurring lithium is composed of 2 stable isotopes Li-6 and Li-7 with Li-7 being the most abundant Six radioisotopes have been characterized with the most stable being Li-8 with a half-life of ms and Li-9 with a half-life of All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lifes that are less than 8.

The isotopes of lithium range in atomic weight from 4. The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, Li-7, is proton emission with one case of alpha decay and the primary mode after is beta emission with some neutron emission.

The primary decay products before Li-7 are element 2 helium isotopes and the primary products after are element 4 beryllium isotopes. Lithium-7 is one of the primordial elements produced in big bang nucleosynthesis.

Lithium isotopes fractionate substantially during a wide variety of natural processes, including mineral formation chemical precipitation , metabolism, ion exchange Li substitutes for magnesium and iron in octahedral sites in clay minerals, where Li-6 is preferential over Li-7 , hyperfiltration, and rock alteration. Like the other alkali metals, lithium in its pure form is highly flammable and slightly explosive when exposed to air and especially water.

This metal is also corrosive and requires special handling to avoid skin contact. When it is stored it should be placed in a nonreactive liquid hydrocarbon such as naphtha. First ionisation energy The minimum energy required to remove an electron from a neutral atom in its ground state.

The oxidation state of an atom is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom. It is defined as being the charge that an atom would have if all bonds were ionic. Uncombined elements have an oxidation state of 0. The sum of the oxidation states within a compound or ion must equal the overall charge. Data for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey. An integrated supply risk index from 1 very low risk to 10 very high risk. This is calculated by combining the scores for crustal abundance, reserve distribution, production concentration, substitutability, recycling rate and political stability scores.

The percentage of a commodity which is recycled. A higher recycling rate may reduce risk to supply. The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity. The percentage of an element produced in the top producing country. The higher the value, the larger risk there is to supply. The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. A percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators.

A percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators.

Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy needed to change the temperature of a kilogram of a substance by 1 K. A measure of the stiffness of a substance.

It provides a measure of how difficult it is to extend a material, with a value given by the ratio of tensile strength to tensile strain. A measure of how difficult it is to deform a material. It is given by the ratio of the shear stress to the shear strain. A measure of how difficult it is to compress a substance. It is given by the ratio of the pressure on a body to the fractional decrease in volume.

A measure of the propensity of a substance to evaporate. It is defined as the equilibrium pressure exerted by the gas produced above a substance in a closed system. This Site has been carefully prepared for your visit, and we ask you to honour and agree to the following terms and conditions when using this Site. Copyright of and ownership in the Images reside with Murray Robertson. The RSC has been granted the sole and exclusive right and licence to produce, publish and further license the Images.

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Jump to main content. Periodic Table. Glossary Allotropes Some elements exist in several different structural forms, called allotropes. Glossary Group A vertical column in the periodic table.

Fact box. Group 1 Melting point Glossary Image explanation Murray Robertson is the artist behind the images which make up Visual Elements. Appearance The description of the element in its natural form. Biological role The role of the element in humans, animals and plants. Natural abundance Where the element is most commonly found in nature, and how it is sourced commercially. Uses and properties. Image explanation. Lithium was discovered from a mineral, while other common alkali metals were discovered from plant material.

The image is based on an alchemical symbol for stone. A soft, silvery metal. It has the lowest density of all metals. It reacts vigorously with water. The most important use of lithium is in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and electric vehicles. Lithium is also used in some non-rechargeable batteries for things like heart pacemakers, toys and clocks.

Lithium metal is made into alloys with aluminium and magnesium, improving their strength and making them lighter. A magnesium-lithium alloy is used for armour plating. Aluminium-lithium alloys are used in aircraft, bicycle frames and high-speed trains.

Lithium oxide is used in special glasses and glass ceramics. Lithium chloride is one of the most hygroscopic materials known, and is used in air conditioning and industrial drying systems as is lithium bromide. Lithium stearate is used as an all-purpose and high-temperature lubricant. Lithium carbonate is used in drugs to treat manic depression, although its action on the brain is still not fully understood. Lithium hydride is used as a means of storing hydrogen for use as a fuel.

Biological role. Lithium has no known biological role. It is toxic, except in very small doses. Natural abundance. Lithium does not occur as the metal in nature, but is found combined in small amounts in nearly all igneous rocks and in the waters of many mineral springs.

Spodumene, petalite, lepidolite, and amblygonite are the more important minerals containing lithium. Most lithium is currently produced in Chile, from brines that yield lithium carbonate when treated with sodium carbonate. The metal is produced by the electrolysis of molten lithium chloride and potassium chloride.

Help text not available for this section currently. Elements and Periodic Table History. It was observed to give an intense crimson flame when thrown onto a fire. In , Johan August Arfvedson of Stockholm analysed it and deduced it contained a previously unknown metal, which he called lithium. He realised this was a new alkali metal and a lighter version of sodium.

However, unlike sodium he was not able to separate it by electrolysis. In William Brande obtained a tiny amount this way but not enough on which to make measurements.