Chemical properties of caesium11/26/2023 Caesium, the fifth alkali metal, is the most reactive of all the metals. Because of their high reactivity, they must be stored under oil to prevent reaction with air, and are found naturally only in salts and never as the free elements. They can all be cut easily with a knife due to their softness, exposing a shiny surface that tarnishes rapidly in air due to oxidation by atmospheric moisture and oxygen (and in the case of lithium, nitrogen). The alkali metals are all shiny, soft, highly reactive metals at standard temperature and pressure and readily lose their outermost electron to form cations with charge +1. This family of elements is also known as the lithium family after its leading element. Indeed, the alkali metals provide the best example of group trends in properties in the periodic table, with elements exhibiting well-characterised homologous behaviour. All alkali metals have their outermost electron in an s-orbital: this shared electron configuration results in their having very similar characteristic properties. Together with hydrogen they constitute group 1, which lies in the s-block of the periodic table. IsotopesĬesium has more isotopes than any element-32-with masses ranging from 114 to 145.The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr). Its chief compounds are the chloride and the nitrate. Cesium is used in atomic clocks, which are accurate to 5 s in 300 years. The metal has recently found application in ion propulsion systems. It is also used in photoelectric cells, as well as a catalyst in the hydrogenation of certain organic compounds. Usesīecause of it has great affinity for oxygen, the metal is used as a "getter" in electron tubes. Cesium hydroxide, the strongest base known, attacks glass. Cesium reacts explosively with cold water, and reacts with ice at temperatures above -116C. It is the most electropositive and most alkaline element.Ĭesium, gallium, and mercury are the only three metals that are liquid at room temperature. The metal is characterized by a spectrum containing two bright lines in the blue along with several others in the red, yellow, and green wavelengths. Very pure, gas-free cesium can be prepared by thermal decomposition of cesium azide. It can be isolated by elecytrolysis of the fused cyanide and by a number of other methods. The deposits are estimated to contain 300,000 tons of pollucite, averaging 20% cesium. One of the world's richest sources of cesium is located at Bernic Lake, Manitoba. SourcesĬesium, an alkali metal, occurs in lepidolite, pollucte (a hydrated silicate of aluminum and cesium), and in other sources. Cesium was discovered spectroscopically in 1860 by Bunsen and Kirchhoff in mineral water from Durkheim. Back to Elements List Cesium Atomic Number:įrom the Latin word caesius, sky blue.
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