Alkaline Earth Metals: And Its Unique Properties

Introduction:

The chemistry is wonderful not only for the reason that I liked it but also because it organizes things very well. As to read the title of this article you know that I am talking about the second group of the periodic table. Yah! Periodic table.

Predictability of Periodic table:

 In groups mainly things of different elements are predictable which is very surprising. That is why Dmitri Mendeleev before discovering the element described their properties and it was quite surprising that he was right.

So, think you thought that chemistry is difficult subject known to humans. But How Dmitri Mendeleev  predict things that means if you have some little knowledge about periodic tables and some other basic concept of chemistry similar to physics things are predictable I mean in classical physics.

In this article we study about following points : 

1. What is an alkaline earth metal?

2. Alkaline Earth Metals Properties

and so on.

Let's start:

The most reactive elements are Group 1 and Group 2. As we explain in group 1 which are alkali metals early in our past articles. In this article, we are talking about the group 2 elements the alkaline earth metal.

What is an Alkaline Earth Metals?

These all elements are very soft and have a silvery appearance. And have low densities, melting, and boiling points. The alkaline earth metals react with halogens which all are ionic compounds except beryllium chloride, beryllium bromide, and beryllium iodide which are covalent.

Except for beryllium, all react with water to form strong hydroxides which can safely be stored.

Think about :

I hope you are not bored by reading such information. In this section of the article I asked a question for you :

Why some deep ocean creature has three heart?

Alkaline Earth Metals Properties:

These are the properties shown by Alkaline earth metals :

1. Alkaline earth metals generally dense than alkaline metals but less denser than transition metals.

2. Having high melting and boiling point more than alkali metals and melting and boiling point generally increase down the group.

3. It has oxidation state of +2.

4. Alkaline earth metal are reactive but less reactive than alkali metals.

5. Alkaline earth metal form ionic compounds.

Beryllium:

Beryllium is the first member of this group of metals. 

Properties of Beryllium:

Here are following properties of beryllium:

1. Beryllium is transparent to X-rays and gamma rays. 

2. Beryllium is the second lightest element after lithium with atomic number 4 and with a steel gray appearance and lightweight and brittle.

Properties of Beryllium which are not similar to other alkaline earth metal:

Following of the properties which are not similar to other alkaline earth metal:

1. Beryllium is much lighter than any other alkali earth metal. 

2. It is the least dense and in comparison to another element much higher melting point.

3.  Beryllium is also very hard and brittle.

4. Beryllium is less reactive as compared to other alkaline earth metals. 

5. Beryllium oxide is amphoteric as compared to other earth metals. 

6. Beryllium is relatively smaller in atomic size as compared to other alkaline earth metals.

Magnesium:

Magnesium is a member of this group of metals. Magnesium is a shiny gray element with atomic number 12 and has low density. 

Properties of Magnesium:

Magnesium show following properties:

1. Magnesium is a lightweight metal.

2. It has low melting point of about 650 degrees Celsius.

3.  Magnesium is a highly reactive metal. 

4. It has strong corrosive resistance properties in dry conditions.

5. Magnesium is a good conductor of electricity.

6. It is very useful in biology because of its importance in biochemistry.

What properties magnesium give in case of alloys?

Alloy: Alloy is the process of mixing two metal together to give them useful properties.

Following properties is showed by alloy containing magnesium:

1. Magnesium alloy has properties corrosive resistance.

2. Magnesium alloy has very a good conductor of electricity

3. Magnesium alloy has properties of biocompatibility.

4. Magnesium alloy are heat resistance, lightweight, improved strength ductility, and formability.

Calcium:

Calcium is also a member of alkaline earth metals. Calcium is relatively less dense and the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust.

Calcium in biology very important element because of its importance in plants and animals. Calcium is a very good conductor of electricity and its compounds are sparingly soluble in water.

Calcium elements are not used in alloying because of their nature of high reactivity.

Strontium:

Strontium is also a member of alkaline earth metals. Strontium is relatively less dense and its isotopes are radioactive mostly produced as the byproduct of nuclear fission reaction. 

Barium:

Barium a unique element with relatively dense metal it is reactive metal and it is very toxic to living organism and cause disease like "Baritosis" , Gastrointensinal issue, and chronic exposure and such similarly disease. It is also use in many medical application like X-rays machine and also useful in many nuclear application.

Radium:

Radium is the radioactivity metal in alkaline metals. Radium emits alpha particles during decay and radium salts have the unique property of luminance glow in the dark. Due to its radioactivity nature, it is mostly used in medical applications.

Conclusion:

Alkaline earth metals are very useful in our technology and ongoing technological advancement. Alkaline earth metals have properties that make them unique and each element in the group has also some properties that make each element in this group unique and important in today's technological era.

Thank you! For read this article. I hope you like its and If you find it value-able and informative comment us in comment. 

Thank you! Once again.

Autor:

This article is written by "Noel gill".

Software used:

In this article, Ahref is a free keyword generator and Grammarly.