Potassium is everywhere. It races through the bloodstream, drifts in the air, swims through the water, and rises up roots of plants. Furthermore, it is vital for life to exist on earth, from the grass lions, bears, and humans trample on every day, to the fish and plankton in the ocean. Without potassium, the ninetieth element on the periodic table with chemical symbol “K,” life would be immensely different today, notwithstanding any in the first place. Potassium functions a significant role in lives, more specifically, its ions and compounds. Indeed, potassium is everywhere, but certainly not as a free element due to its highly reactive property. As the seventh most abundant element on earth, potassium remains crucial for life and humanity
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Potassium contains one electron in its outermost shell or in the fourth energy level, therefore it impatiently waits to react with other elements and compounds. In other words, it reacts with all acids and all non-metals. For example, potassium reacts with water to produce hydrogen gas. This reaction generates a mass of heat that the hydrogen gas may catch on fire and explode, and as the potassium burns, it emits a purple flame seen in fireworks (Pappas). There are water molecules or water vapor throughout the atmosphere, thus chemically, potassium is unstable, and for that, it never occurs free in nature. In addition, it must be stored under kerosene oil to prevent it from reacting with water molecules or other compounds in the atmosphere (Mukherjee).
Physical properties of potassium include a soft, solid, silver-white metal that a person can cut with a dull knife. It has a melting point of sixty-three degrees Celsius, which is very low for a metal. In other words, it can melt over the flame of a candle. Its boiling point is 770 degrees Celsius and with density 0.862 grams per cubic centimeter, it can float on water. Moreover, it holds as the second lightest metal on the period table. Overall, this light, ductile metal can ignite destruction with harmless water …show more content…
By drinking water, eating food, or breathing air, potassium-40 enters the bloodstream and is quickly distributes to all organs and tissues. After about a month, our body eliminates it. The health hazard of the radiation causing cancer is about 0.004 percent. In 1.28 billion years, 89 percent of the time, half of the potassium 40 decays to calcium-40 by emitting a beta particle, while 11% of the time it decays to the gas, Argon-40, by electron capture. Besides radiometric dating, there are no specific commercial or medical uses associated with the radioactive properties of potassium-40. Accordingly, radiologists use potassium-40 to determine the age of objects, the older the rock, the more argon-40, while the younger the rock, the more potassium-40 in composition. Essentially, No one really uses this radioisotope; it just naturally occurs in nature and flows through food, bodies, and the atmosphere
Potassium contains one electron in its outermost shell or in the fourth energy level, therefore it impatiently waits to react with other elements and compounds. In other words, it reacts with all acids and all non-metals. For example, potassium reacts with water to produce hydrogen gas. This reaction generates a mass of heat that the hydrogen gas may catch on fire and explode, and as the potassium burns, it emits a purple flame seen in fireworks (Pappas). There are water molecules or water vapor throughout the atmosphere, thus chemically, potassium is unstable, and for that, it never occurs free in nature. In addition, it must be stored under kerosene oil to prevent it from reacting with water molecules or other compounds in the atmosphere (Mukherjee).
Physical properties of potassium include a soft, solid, silver-white metal that a person can cut with a dull knife. It has a melting point of sixty-three degrees Celsius, which is very low for a metal. In other words, it can melt over the flame of a candle. Its boiling point is 770 degrees Celsius and with density 0.862 grams per cubic centimeter, it can float on water. Moreover, it holds as the second lightest metal on the period table. Overall, this light, ductile metal can ignite destruction with harmless water …show more content…
By drinking water, eating food, or breathing air, potassium-40 enters the bloodstream and is quickly distributes to all organs and tissues. After about a month, our body eliminates it. The health hazard of the radiation causing cancer is about 0.004 percent. In 1.28 billion years, 89 percent of the time, half of the potassium 40 decays to calcium-40 by emitting a beta particle, while 11% of the time it decays to the gas, Argon-40, by electron capture. Besides radiometric dating, there are no specific commercial or medical uses associated with the radioactive properties of potassium-40. Accordingly, radiologists use potassium-40 to determine the age of objects, the older the rock, the more argon-40, while the younger the rock, the more potassium-40 in composition. Essentially, No one really uses this radioisotope; it just naturally occurs in nature and flows through food, bodies, and the atmosphere