Alkaline earth metal

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Alkaline earth metal

The alkaline earth metals are a series of elements

Chemical element

A chemical element is a type of atom that is distinguished by its atomic number; that is, by the number of protons in its atomic nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical Chemical substance composed of atoms with the same number of protons....
comprising Group 2

Periodic table group

In chemistry, a group is a vertical column in the periodic table of the chemical elements. The name family is derived from the fact that the elements share similar characteristics and traits, just as members of any human family would....
(IUPAC style) (Group IIA) of the periodic table

Periodic table

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a table method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869....
: beryllium

Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
(Be), magnesium

Magnesium

Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, atomic weight 24.3050 and common oxidation number +2.Magnesium, an alkaline earth metal, is the ninth most abundance of the chemical elements in the universe by mass....
(Mg), calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
(Ca), strontium

Strontium

Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically....
(Sr), barium

Barium

Barium is a chemical element. It has the symbol Ba, and atomic number 56. Barium is a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. It is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with Earth's atmosphere....
(Ba) and radium

Radium

Radium is a radioactive chemical element which has the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. Its appearance is almost pure white, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, turning black....
(Ra). The alkaline earth metals provide a good example of group trends in properties in the periodic table, with well-characterized homologous behavior down the group.

Like other groups, the members of this family show patterns in its electron configuration, especially the outermost shells resulting in trends in chemical behavior:

The alkaline earth metals are silver colored, soft metal

Metal

In chemistry, a metal is a chemical element whose atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions , and form metallic bonds between other metal atoms and ionic bonds between nonmetal atoms....
s, which react readily with halogen

Halogen

|}The halogens or halogen elements are a chemical series of nonmetal chemical element from Periodic table group International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry of the periodic table, comprising fluorine, F; chlorine, Cl; bromine, Br; iodine, I; and astatine, At....
s to form ionic salts, and with water

Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
, though not as rapidly as the alkali metal

Alkali metal

The alkali metals are a chemical series of chemical elements comprising Periodic table group of the periodic table: lithium , sodium , potassium , rubidium , caesium , and francium ....
s, to form strong alkaline

Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a Base , Ionic compound salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal Chemical element. Alkalis are best known for being Base s that dissolve in water....
(basic

Base (chemistry)

In chemistry, a base is most commonly thought of as an aqueous substance that can accept protons. A base is also often referred to as an alkali if OH- ions are involved....
) hydroxide

Hydroxide

In chemistry, hydroxide is the name for the Diatomic molecule anion OH-, consisting of oxygen and hydrogen atoms, usually derived from the Dissociation of a base ....
s.

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Encyclopedia

The alkaline earth metals are a series of elements

Chemical element

Periodic table group

Periodic table

Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
(Be), magnesium

Magnesium

Calcium

Strontium

Barium

Radium

Z Atomic number In chemistry and physics, the atomic number is the number of protons found in the atomic nucleus of an atom. It is conventionally represented by the symbol Z....	Element Element The name element may refer to:In chemistry, electronics or the geosciences:* Chemical element, an atomic structure* Electrical element...	No. of electrons/shell Electron shell File:Periodic Table of Elements showing Electron Shells.svgAn electron shell may be crudely thought of as an orbit followed by electrons around an atom Atomic nucleus....
4	Beryllium	2, 2
12	Magnesium	2, 8, 2
20	Calcium	2, 8, 8, 2
38	Strontium	2, 8, 18, 8, 2
56	Barium	2, 8, 18, 18, 8, 2
88	Radium	2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 8, 2

The alkaline earth metals are silver colored, soft metal

Metal

Halogen

Water

Alkali metal

Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a Base , Ionic compound salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal Chemical element. Alkalis are best known for being Base s that dissolve in water....
(basic

Base (chemistry)

In chemistry, a base is most commonly thought of as an aqueous substance that can accept protons. A base is also often referred to as an alkali if OH- ions are involved....
) hydroxide

Hydroxide

In chemistry, hydroxide is the name for the Diatomic molecule anion OH-, consisting of oxygen and hydrogen atoms, usually derived from the Dissociation of a base ....
s. For example, where sodium

Sodium

Sodium is an element which has the symbol Na , atomic number 11, atomic mass 23 amu , and a common oxidation number +1. Sodium is a soft, silvery white, highly reactive element and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1" ....
and potassium

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
react with water at room temperature, magnesium

Magnesium

Steam

In physical chemistry, and in engineering, steam refers to vaporized water. It is a pure, completely invisible gaseous phase . At standard temperature and pressure, pure steam occupies about 1,600 times the volume of an equal mass of liquid water....
and calcium

Calcium

Mg + 2 H₂O ? Mg(OH)₂ + H₂

Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
is an exception: It does not react with water or steam, and its halides are covalent.

All the alkaline earth metals have two electron

Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has elementary particle and is believed to be a point particle....
s in their valence shell, so the energetically preferred state of achieving a filled electron shell

Electron shell

File:Periodic Table of Elements showing Electron Shells.svgAn electron shell may be crudely thought of as an orbit followed by electrons around an atom Atomic nucleus....
is to lose two electrons to form doubly charged

Electric charge

Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interaction. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields....
positive

Positive

Positive is a property of positivity and may refer to:...
ion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule which has lost or gained one or more electrons, giving it a positive or negative electrical charge. According to the Bohr_model this will be from or in the outer shield 'n'....
s.

The alkaline earth metals are named after their oxide

Oxide

An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
s, the alkaline earths, whose old-fashioned names were beryllia, magnesia

Magnesium oxide

Magnesium oxide, or magnesia, is a white solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium . It has an empirical formula of ....
, lime

Calcium oxide

Calcium oxide , commonly known as burnt lime, Lime or quicklime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, Caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....
, strontia and baryta. These oxides are basic (alkaline) when combined with water. "Earth" is an old term applied by early chemists to nonmetallic substances that are insoluble in water and resistant to heating--properties shared by these oxides. The realization that these earths were not elements but compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a Chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical element Chemical bond together in a fixed mass ratio that can be split into simpler substances....
s is attributed to the chemist Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the Fathers_of_scientific_fields#Chemistry, was a French people noble prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology....
. In his Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elements of Chemistry) of 1789 he called them salt-forming earth elements. Later, he suggested that the alkaline earths might be metal oxides, but admitted that this was mere conjecture. In 1808, acting on Lavoisier's idea, Humphry Davy

Humphry Davy

Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet Fellow of the Royal Society Royal Irish Academy was a Cornish chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali metal and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine....
became the first to obtain samples of the metals by electrolysis

Electrolysis

In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of separating Chemical bond chemical compound by passing an electric current through them....
of their molten earths.

Biological occurrences

Beryllium's low aqueous solubility means it is rarely available to biological systems; it has no known role in living organisms, and when encountered by them, is generally highly toxic.

Magnesium and calcium are ubiquitous and essential to all known living organisms. They are involved in more than one role, with for example Mg/Ca ion pumps playing a role in some cellular processes, magnesium functioning as the active center in some enzymes, and calcium salts taking a structural role (e.g. bone
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
s).

Strontium and barium have a lower availability in the biosphere. Strontium plays an important role in marine aquatic life, especially hard corals. They use strontium to build their exoskeleton
Exoskeleton

An exoskeleton is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal endoskeleton of, for example, a human skeleton....
. These elements have some uses in medicine, for example "barium meal
Barium meal

A barium meal, also known as an upper gastrointestinal series is a procedure in which X-ray of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum are taken after barium sulfate is ingested by a patient....
s" in radio graphic imaging, whilst strontium compounds are employed in some toothpaste
Toothpaste

Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it can aid in the removal of dental plaque and food from the teeth, aid in the elimination and/or masking of halitosis and deliver active ingredients such as fluoride or xylitol to prevent tooth...
s.

Radium has a low availability and is highly radioactive, making it toxic to life.