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Lithium Li

Appearance Lithium has a silvery appearance but quickly becomes covered by a film of black oxide when exposed to air. It is usually stored immersed in an inert oil.
General Information Lithium reacts with water, but not as vigorously as sodium. It imparts a beautiful crimson colour to a flame, but when the metal burns strongly the flame is a dazzling white.

Sodium Na
Appearance Sodium is a soft, silvery-white metal which is generally stored in paraffin, as it oxidises rapidly when cut.

General Information Sodium is very reactive, and should be handled with care. It floats on water, decomposing it with the evolution of hydrogen and the formation of sodium hydroxide. It may or may not ignite spontaneously on the water, depending on the amount of metal
exposed to the water.

Potassium K
Appearance Potassium is a soft, white metal which is silvery when cut but which rapidly oxidises.
General Information Potassium is the lightest known metal. It is also one of the most reactive and electropositive of metals, and as it oxidises rapidly in air it must be preserved in a mineral oil such as kerosene. Its reaction with water is vigorous - it catches fire spontaneously and decomposes with the evolution of hydrogen. Potassium and its salts burn with a violet colour.

Rubidium Rb
Appearance Rubidium is a very soft, silverywhite metal with a lustre when cut.
General Information Rubidium can be liquid at room temperature. It ignites spontaneously in air and reacts violently with water, igniting the liberated hydrogen. It forms amalgams with mercury and alloys with gold, caesium, potassium and sodium. It colours a flame yellowish-violet.

Caesium Cs
Appearance Caesium is silvery-white, soft and ductile. It is liquid at room temperature.
General Information Caesium reacts rapidly with oxygen and explosively with water. It also reacts with ice at temperatures above 116K. The metal is characterised by a spectrum containing two bright lines in the blue along with several others in the red, yellow and green. Caesium hydroxide is the strongest base known, and can attack glass.

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