- Dangerous Intersection - https://dangerousintersection.org/ -

Never Mix Alkalai Metals with Water

Okay, this is (sort of) just silliness. The Alkali metals appear on that left edge of the Periodic Table of the Elements [1] under Hydrogen. What these metals below hydrogen all have in common is that they love oxygen even more than does hydrogen. So, if you drop any of these metals (Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, Cesium, or Francium) into water, they steal the oxygen from the water leaving the hydrogen to go free. But, the reaction gets hot, so as soon as this hydrogen hits more oxygen, it grabs it. Boom
This British video demonstrates the drama of dropping tiny pieces of these metals into water: “Like a grenade in a bathtub”.
[gv data=”cqeVEFFzz7E”][/gv]

The throw-away line at the end about Francium implies that it would be the biggest bang ever, if they were allowed to do it. The real problem is that its most stable isotope only lasts a few minutes. Very radioactive, as well as explosive.

Share [3]