Potassium (19)

  1. Potassium concentration in seawater is 0.39g/L (0.04% by weight), far less abundant than sodium at 10.8g/L.
  2. Orthoclase (Potassium Feldspar) is a common rock-forming mineral.
  3. Granite contains 5% potassium.
  4. Minerals found in large evaporate deposits (in lake bottoms and seabeds):
  5. Sylvite (KCl)
  6. Carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6(H2O)
  7. Kainite (MgSO4.KCl.3H2O)
  8. Langbeinite (MgSO4.K2SO4)
  9. Polyhalite
  10. Metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite hydrogen emitted in the reaction.
  11. Agricultural fertilizers consume 95% of global potassium chemical production.
  12. Potassium is the second least dense metal, after Lithium.
  13. Potassium does not react with most hydrocarbons such as mineral oil or kerosene. It readily dissolves in liquid ammonia.
  14. Potassium employed as reductant: MgCl2 + 2K → Mg + 2KCl
  15. Potassium hydroxide reacts readily with carbon dioxide to produce Potassium Carbonate, and is used to remove traces of the gas from air.
  16. Potassium + Oxygen = Potassium Peroxide
  17. Potassium + Water = Potassium Hydroxide
  18. Potassium oxidizes faster than most metals and forms oxides with oxygen-oxygen bonds, as do all alkali metals, except Lithium.
  19. Potassium Soaps from animal fats and vegetable oils were especially prized.
  20. Potassium Super-Peroxide – pressure sensitive explosive that will detonate when scratched.