Experiments with alkali metals or their compounds
| element | required compound | link to experiment | |
| * |
Cs |
KBrO3 S8 any soluble Cs-salt |
Beautiful blue light with cesium
bromate
|
| * |
K |
KOH Mg (coarse powder) tert-butanol Aliphatic solvent, boiling around 220 C, free of aromatics |
Synthesis of potassium from magnesium
and potassium hydroxide
|
| * |
K Cs |
KCl CsCl (optional) K2Cr2O7 (optional) HCl (dilute, optional) |
Tutorial for making a miniature electrolysis cell for chlorate production. This is not really an experiment, it is a description of how one can setup a nice small electrolysis cell, suitable for making chlorates from chlorides. The good working of this cell is demonstrated for making potassium chlorate and cesium chlorate. |
| * |
K |
KIO3 HCl (30%) CH3COCH3 H2SO4 H2O2 (3%) Na2SO3 |
Preparation of polyhalide salt of potassium. Potassium iodate is added to concentrated hydrochloric acid. Chlorine gas is formed, and needle-like crystals of potassium tetrachloroiodate(III) are formed as well. This is a remarkable polyhalide compound. |
|
Li |
LiCl (or LiBr) |
Colored flames with metal salts. Metals salts are mixed/dissolved in ethanol, soaked in paper and ignited, one of the salts being lithium bromide. |
|
|
Na |
phenolphtalein pH indicator |
Sodium skirting over water surface. This is a very simple experiment. Some sodium is thrown in a tank, filled with water, in which some pH indicator is dissolved. This results in a nice visual effect. |
|
|
Na |
Na HCl (dilute) |
Dangerous experiments with sodium metal. Sodium metal is put in dilute hydrochloric acid. The heat, produced in this reaction, ignites the hydrogen, also formed in this reaction. This leads to a loud bang! |
|
| * |
Rb |
Rb2CO3 HIO3 HCl (30%) |
A polyhalide compound of rubidium. Rubidium is known to form polyhalide compounds fairly easily, more so than the lighter alkali metals. In this experiment such a compound is prepared. During the preparation a beautiful crystalline precipitate is formed. |
| * | Cs, Cu, Co, Fe |
CuCl2·2H2O CsCl HCl (30%)
CoCl2·6H2O (optional) FeCl3·6H2O (optional) |
Red complex of copper and chloride. A really beautiful and remarkable solid chloro complex of copper is produced. The complex has copper in oxidation state +2 and has a bright red color, which is very special for copper in oxidation state +2. A few other similar complexes of other metals are described as well through this webpage. All these complexes depend on the special solubility properties of their cesium-salt. |
. Cesium bromate is
made, and a mix of this with sulphur is burned,
giving a beautiful blue flame color.