Alkali metals

• Alkali metals include lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium
• Alkali metals are relatively soft with low densities and low melting points
• Alkali metals are much more reactive than other metals and react vigorously with water, oxygen, and group 7 elements like chlorine
• As you go down the group of alkali metals, they become even more reactive, with cesium being so reactive that it can ignite spontaneously at room temperature
• A trend as you go down the group of alkali metals is that the melting points and boiling points decrease
• Alkali metals have one electron in their outermost shell, making them highly reactive as they only need to lose that one electron to be stable
• As alkali metals go down the group, the atom's radius increases, weakening the attractive force between the positive nucleus and the outer negative electron, making it easier for the electron to be lost and increasing reactivity
• Alkali metals almost always form ionic compounds with non-metals because they can easily lose their outer electrons
• When alkali metals react with water, they produce a metal hydroxide and hydrogen gas
• Alkali metals react vigorously when heated in chlorine gas, forming white metal chloride salts
• When alkali metals react with oxygen, they form metal oxides, with the type of oxide depending on the particular metal