Alkali Earth MetalsBeryllium • Magnesium • Calcium

Strontium • Barium • Radium

The alkaline earth elements are metallic elements found in the second group of the periodic table. All alkaline earth elements have an

oxidation number of +2, making them very reactive. Because of their reactivity, the alkaline metals are not found free in nature.

Properties of Alkali Earth Metals

Properties of Alkali Earth Metals

Alkaline earth metals in their pure forms are generally shiny and silvery.

They rarely occur in their pure form, however, because they are very reactive.

Alkaline earth metals have two electrons in their outermost electron layer, which take relatively little energy to remove.

Properties of Alkali Earth Metals

Alkaline earth metals have relatively low ionization energies for their first two electrons. Because of this, alkaline earth metals exist with a 2+ charge most of the time.

It is most common to find them in ionic compounds or as ions.

Common Elementsof Alkali Earth Metals

Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with symbol "Be" and atomic

number 4. It is created through stellar nucleosynthesis and is a relatively rare element in the

universe

Beryllium

Discovery date - 1797

Discovered by Nicholas Louis Vauquelin

Origin of the name - The name is derived from the Greek name for beryl, 'beryllo'.

Beryllium is used in gears and cogs particularly in the

aviation industry. Beryllium is a silvery-white

metal. It is relatively soft and has a low density.

Beryllium

Beryllium is used in alloys with copper or nickel to make gyroscopes, springs, electrical contacts, spot-welding electrodes and non-sparking tools.

Other beryllium alloys are used as structural materials for high-speed aircraft, missiles, spacecraft and communication satellites.

BerylliumBeryllium is also used in nuclear reactors as a reflector or moderator of neutrons.

The oxide has a very high melting point making it useful in nuclear work as well as having ceramic applications.

Beryllium and its compounds are toxic and carcinogenic.

Beryllium is found in about 30 different mineral species.

Magnesium

Magnesium is a chemical element with symbol Mg and

atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray solid which bears a close physical resemblance to the

other five elements in the second column of the periodic table

MagnesiumDiscovery date - 1755

Discovered by Joseph Black

Origin of the name - The name is derived from Magnesia, a district of Eastern Thessaly in Greece.

The image is inspired by chlorophyll, the molecule contained in green

plants that enables them to photosynthesise. Chlorophyll contains

a single atom of magnesium at its centre.

A silvery-white metal that ignites easily in air and burns with a bright

light.

MagnesiumMagnesium is one-third less dense than aluminum.

Magnesium is used in products that benefit from being lightweight, such as car seats, luggage, laptops, cameras and power tools.

As magnesium ignites easily in air and burns with a bright light, it’s used in flares, fireworks and sparklers.

Magnesium

Magnesium sulfate is sometimes used as a mordant for dyes.

Grignard reagents are organic magnesium compounds that are important for the chemical industry.

In humans, magnesium is essential to the working of hundreds of enzymes.

Magnesium

Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, but does not occur uncombined in nature.

Magnesium is an essential element in both plant and animal life. Without magnesium photosynthesis could not take place, and life as we know it would not exist.

Calcium

Calcium is a chemical element with symbol Ca and atomic number 20. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, fifth-most-abundant

element by mass in the Earth's crust.

Calcium

Discovery date - 1808

Discovered byHumphry Davy

Origin of the name- The name is derived from the Latin 'calx' meaning lime.

The spiral shell and bones reflect the essential presence of calcium in all

living things.Calcium is a silvery-white, soft metal

that tarnishes rapidly in air and reacts with water.

Calcium

Calcium metal is used as a reducing agent in preparing other metals such as thorium and uranium.

Calcium compounds are widely used. There are vast deposits of limestone (calcium carbonate) used directly as a building stone and indirectly for cement.

Calcium

Calcium is essential to all living things, particularly for the growth of healthy teeth and bones.

Calcium is the fifth most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust (4.1%).

Calcium metal is prepared commercially by heating lime with aluminum in a vacuum.

StrontiumStrontium is a chemical

element with symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal,

strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element

that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when it is exposed to

air.

StrontiumDiscovery date - 1790

Discovered by Adair Crawford

Origin of the name - Strontium is named after Strontian, a small town in Scotland.

The image is of a highly abstracted metallic ‘mushroom cloud’. It

alludes to the presence of strontium in nuclear fallout.

A soft, silvery metal that burns in air and reacts with water.

StrontiumStrontium is best known for the brilliant reds its salts give to fireworks and flares.

Strontium chloride hexahydrate is an ingredient in toothpaste for sensitive teeth.

Strontium is incorporated into the shells of some deep-sea creatures and is essential to some stony corals.

Strontium is found mainly in the minerals celestite and strontianite.

BariumBarium is a chemical

element with symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It

is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Because of its

high chemical reactivity barium is never found in nature as a free element.

BariumDiscovery date - 1808

Discovered byHumphry Davy

Origin of the name - The name comes from the Greek 'barys', meaning heavy.

The image is based on x-ray radiographs of the human stomach and intestines in patients who have

been given a ‘barium meal’.Barium is a soft, silvery metal that rapidly tarnishes in air and reacts

with water.

BariumBarium is not an extensively used element.

All barium compounds are toxic; however, barium sulfate is insoluble and so can be safely swallowed.

Barium carbonate has been used in the past as a rat poison. Barium nitrate gives fireworks a green colour.

Barium occurs only in combination with other elements.

Radium

Radium is a chemical element with symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element

in group 2 of the periodic table, also

known as the alkaline earth metals.

Radium

Discovery date - 1898

Discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie

Origin of the name - The name is derived from the Latin 'radius', meaning ray.

The image represents the former use of radium in luminous paint used for clock and watch dials.

A soft, shiny and silvery radioactive metal.

RadiumRadium now has few uses, because it is so highly radioactive.

Radium-223 is sometimes used to treat prostate cancer that has spread to the bones.

Radium used to be used in luminous paints, for example in clock and watch dials.

Radium is present in all uranium ores, and could be extracted as a by-product of uranium refining.