You can know detailed information for each element, Hydrogen, Lithium, Sodium, Rubidium, Caesium and franciumĬalcium is the element in the same group. Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Sodium, Magnesium, Calcium, Rubidium, Strontium, Caesium, Barium, francium and Radium are other elements in the s-block.Ĭalcium, Scandium, Titanium, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Gallium, Germanium, Arsenic, Selenium, Bromine and Krypton. Potassium chromate K 2Cr 2O 4 is used in preparation of inks, dyes, stains and in manufacture of colorfully burning fireworks, in tanning of leather etc., though the presence of chromium atoms is partly responsible for the uses.Potassium chlorate KClO 3 is used in preparation of safety matches and explosives.Potassium hydroxide, Potassium nitrate are widely used in industries as reagents on large scale.Potassium cyanide is a good solvent for dissolving precious metals like gold, silver etc.Rochelle salt is also used in silvering of mirrors. It is also used in culinary additives such as baking powder which has Potassium sodium tartrate (KNaC 4H 4O 6, Rochelle salt) as its main ingredient.The demand for fertilizers containing K is so large across the world that potassium is used in huge quantities for utilizing in agriculture, horticulture and hydroponics (a special type of growing plants sans soil ). It is the most essential component in fertilizers.Potassium, being a highly reactive element, is used mainly in its combined forms or its compounds. It is an electropositive element like the other alkali metals in the group I of periodic table. Similar to the other elements in the group I of periodic table, K is electropositive and it has a tendency to gain stable electronic configuration of the noble element Argon present in the same period. Water is not suitable for preservation of K because it reacts with water readily, liberating hydrogen accompanied by heat and forming potassium hydroxide. When exposed to air, it catches fire violently by reacting with oxygen present in the air.Like sodium, K is also a soft metal which can be cut with a knife.For avoiding getting ablaze or exploded, pure K is preserved in kerosene. It is more reactive than its predecessors in the Group I ( Lithium and Sodium). Hence, K possesses valency one and it tends to donate electron readily to gain stable noble gas configuration. Since all alkali metals have a single electron in their outermost shell, K too has a single electron in its peripheral orbital.
The first group of periodic table contains alkali metals. Potassium is an element in the first group of periodic table and its symbol is K, derived from the Latin word Kalium.