group 1-alkali metals

• alkali metals have one electron in their outer shell, what does this mean?

  they are very unreactive as well as being soft and having a low density
• trends for group 1 as you go down the group?

  -increasing reactivity(outer electrons lost more easily)

  -lower melting and boiling points

  -higher relative atomic mass
• what do alkali metals do when they react with water?

  ther react very vigorously, more reactive as a the group goes down, top three tend to float, move around on surface, fizz furiously and for potassium ignite
• why does reactivity increase as you go down the alkali metals?

  outer electron gets further away from the nucleus, less attraction so is more easily lost when it reacts
• what is formed when alkali metals react with water?

  hydroxide and hydrogen gas
• when alkali metals react with chlorine what is formed

  salt
• what is formed when alkali metals react with oxygen

  metal oxides