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All of the Group I
elements have one electron in the outer
shell. They are all metals and bond
electrovalently.
When these metals
form electrovalent bonds they lose the one
electron in the outer shell. The more
shells the atom has, the more reactive it
is. This is because the outer electron is
more easily lost from the outer shell.
They are called
alkali metals because they produce alkalis
when they react with water.
The salts of the
alkali metals are mostly all soluble in
water. The metal elements are far too
reactive to occur naturally but they are
all found in nature as their various salts.
Since the 6 alkali
metals react in much the same way, the
examples given in this tutorial are those
of sodium (Na). |
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