Alkaline Metals and Water

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Categories: Elements and Chemical Reactions, Uncategorized

YouTube Rubidium and Caesium 

We watched this video in class after observing a demonstration of Sodium in water. Watch these again, and consider the following four questions. Leave a comment with your thoughts on these questions.

How do you think these metals compare in terms of their reactivity?

What similarities are there in the reactions?

What gas do you think is released in this reaction? Can you explain why?

How do these observations compare with the position of these elements on the periodic table?

Hamish Ismay said,

May 14, 2008 @ 4:33 pm

1 the reactions become more and more violent and explosive each step up the vertical line in the periodic table of elements. e.g. lithium being the smallest reaction and francium being the most explosive alkaline metal.
2 yes there were some similarities.
3 the gas produced was hydrogen. we know this because when we did the sodium experiment, we lit a match over the beaker and it made a ‘pop’ sound
4 hydrogen is at the top of the vertical line in which all of the alkaline metals [are found].

Patrick Bailey said,

May 14, 2008 @ 4:54 pm

1)In terms of their reactivity both metals use oxygen to ignite.

2) Both of the reactions made a very big bang and both destroyed the bath tub

3) Hydrogen, b/c of the water which is made from nitrogen [hydrogen] and oxygen; and oxygen is everywhere anyway so it had to be nitrogen [hydrogen].

4)Both elements are in the column under Hydrogen. Meaning that both a very dangerous.

schaefera said,

May 14, 2008 @ 6:09 pm

Patrick, do you mean water is made from HYDROGEN and oxygen, so it had to be the hydrogen?

charlotte said,

May 14, 2008 @ 7:10 pm

We watched this video in class after observing a demonstration of Sodium in water. Watch these again, and consider the following four questions. Leave a comment with your thoughts on these questions.

How do you think these metals compare in terms of their reactivity?

What similarities are there in the reactions?____Both of the reactions destroyed the bath in some way, and both also sent the water up into the air.

What gas do you think is released in this reaction? Can you explain why?____I think Hydrogeon gas would be realsed with the caesium because it said???

How do these observations compare with the position of these elements on the periodic table?

Aiyana Levin said,

May 14, 2008 @ 8:23 pm

I enoyed the video but the questions were quite challenging

Isobel Walsh said,

May 14, 2008 @ 8:55 pm

i think these metals compare in terms of their reactivity because they both explode and mainly do the same thing, just one of them makes bigger explosions to the other when it reaches [reacts with]water.
The similarities are that they both explode at the same time and they both react in a major way when placed in water.
I have no idea which gas sorry

Daniel Hughes said,

May 15, 2008 @ 5:26 pm

1 The first metal had a reletive explosion but the second meteal was the biggest.
2 Similarities are that both metals were added to water and that hydrogen gas was released.
3 I think the gas released was hydrogen and it rose as the alkaline metals evaporated [reacted]; the water and oxygen is colourless so we saw the hydrogen.
4 The metals are down the bottom of the side of the periodic table with only 1 below it which is the strongest alkaline metal and the top of the periodic table is the weakest.

Kristen Kime said,

May 15, 2008 @ 7:10 pm

1. I think these two metals compare in terms of their reactivity by both making a big explosion by just as little as two grams of it. They also both take about ten seconds to react to the water.

2. They both are big and take a while to react.

3. I think is it hydrogen gas in the reaction because the sodium’s reaction was hydrogen gas and these two are similar to sodium. But most of the thing you can see is water from the bath tub.

4. On the periodic table these three are one down from eachother. So it means that as you go down the explosion gets bigger and the biggest is Francium.

Raissa said,

May 15, 2008 @ 8:35 pm

1. If we compare these two metals the ceasium is much bigger than the rubidium.

2. These two metals have many similarities, they are basically the same except ceasium is more powerful.

3. The gas i think [that] is releasd in the reaction is hydrogen because it rises and in the video you can see smoke rising from the bathtub.

4. On the periodic table the ceasium is further down than the rubidium so it means that the further down it is the more powerful it is.

Elli Byrne said,

May 15, 2008 @ 10:58 pm

Q1. I think these metals have a large variety in terms of their reactivity. Lithium and Sodium have similar, small reactions when combined with water. Then Comes Potassium, followed by the explosions caused by Rubidium, Caesium and Francium. Francium had the largest reactivity.

Q2. These reactions all had similar results. They all made some form of explosion/reaction and when combined with H2O (water), all produced a gas.

Q3. ummmm I think this gas produced was Hydrogen. I say this because the man said it and I thought, seeing the reactions of potassium etc that hydrogen was the gas which made a flame reaction. I’m not entirely sure though.

Q4. These observations show that the more reactive an element is the lower on the periodic table it will be.

eloise said,

May 18, 2008 @ 10:31 pm

Q1. Reactions between metals etc become more and more violent,explosive and dangermous each step up the vertical line in the periodic table of elements.

Q2.Yes the reactions had similar results they all exploded when dropped in water.

Q3.The man said hydrogen .. =]

Q4.This shows that the elements become more explosive or reactive each step up the periodic table

Maya G.M said,

May 19, 2008 @ 6:46 am

Q1 i dont really understand this question! All the metals were explosive some more reactive than others
Q2 All the metals were similar in their reactions because they all were explosive/reactive but just in different amounts
Q3 i think that the gas released was Hydrogen
Q4 All the metals in their column were reactive in some way, but the lower in the column the more reactive the metal.

Aiyana Levin said,

May 21, 2008 @ 6:59 pm

Q1 i think they are placed in their order of reactivity the reactions gradually get stronger and more explosive when these elements are placed in water.

Q2 They all l set on fire and all had very powerful explosions.

Q3 I think the gas was hydrogen.

Q4 They are similar as the lower down the chart the element is, the higher the explosion.

MR BLOG said,

July 15, 2008 @ 5:18 pm

I THINK THAT THE EXPLOSTION WAS COOL IN MY CLASS :)

MR FISHER IS COOL

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