1. Give many reason, why do the group I metals extract difficulty?

Answer:
alkali metal is highly reactive and therefore can not be found as a free metal in nature,
but is founded in the form of compounds and alkali metal compounds can only be
extracted by using electrolysis or reduction method because alkali metal is strong
reducing agent. So there may be obtained by reduction of metal oxides such as Na and
Li.
2. Give two examples of using each the group I elements and why do they use it?
Amswer:
a. Lithium (Li)
- Li is used in batteries for pacemakers, calculator, clock, camera and more
- Li is used in alloys Mg and Al. These alloys are very lightweight but strong so
it is used for aircraft components
b. Sodium (Na)
- As a coolant for nuclear reactors. Because sodium has a low melting point, the
sodium metal is used as a coolant in nuclear reactors where sodium metal
absorbs heat from the nuclear reactor and then sodium metal heat flows
through the channel towards the reservoir containing water. Furthermore, the
water in the reservoir to evaporate and the vapor flow in the steam power
plant.
- Sodium chloride (NaCl) is used as a preservative in many commercially
packaged foods. This is because sodium chloride protects the food from
harmful microorganisms and ensure that food is not broken for some time.
'Salting' or 'preservation' of food prevents it from damage.
c. Potassium (K)
- KNO3 is used as an essential component of explosives, firecrackers and
fireworks.
- KClO3 is used for the manufacture of matches, explosives, and fireworks.
KClO3 can also be used as material for Cl2 gas, when reacted with a solution
of HCl in the laboratory.
d. Rubidium (Rb)
- Rb has a low ionization potential and are used in photoelectric cells such as
fotomultipuler, to convert light energy into energy listrik.Rb also be used as an
oscillator for applications such as navigation and communications in the
military.
- Rb is used in the manufacture of cathode ray tube televisions and lights as well
as trapping gases - gases that are not needed in a vacuum system.
e. Caesium (Cs)
- Cs is used as a standard unit of seconds on a standard cesium atomic clock due
to vibration atomya (<9,000 million times per second) can be used to measure
time very accurately. It is associated with abundant isotope in nature is 100%
which means that all the atoms of Cs-133 is identical.
- Cs is used in photoelectric cells. When exposed to light, Cs will release
electrons that will be attracted to the positive electrode into the cell and
causing the electrical current.

f. Francium (Fr)
Francium is used to measure the levels of Actinium (Ac) in natural materials (Fr is
the decay product of Ac) and in biological research to study the organs of mice.
3. Why are group I element:
a. Univalent?
Answer :
The electron configuration :
: [2He] 2s1
3Li
: [10Ne] 3s1
11Na
: [18Ar] 4s1
19K
: [36Kr] 5s1
37Rb
: [54Xe] 6s1
55Cs
1
87Fr: [86Rn] 7s
Based on the configuration , we know that group I element have one valence
electron in their outer orbitals. So it called univalent.
b. Largerly ionic?
Because the alkali metals have one valence electron, the alkali metal will tend to
release electrons in their outermost shells (electropositive character) to form
charged ions +1 or can also be said to act as a cation.
c. Strong reducing agent?
Alkali metals are strong reducing agents because of the ease of it to lose electrons.
Because in general, the elements more easily release electrons having greater
reducing power.
d. Poor complexing agent?
Group I included a weak complexing agent because the requirements to be a good
complexing agent is a small ion size which has highly charged ions and having an
empty orbital which has a lower energy to form a bond. While the group I
elements have a high of radius and charged ions low at +1.
e. Why do they have lowest first ionization energy values in their periods?
Because being the first elements of each period, alkali metals have the largest
atomic and atomic radius. In large atoms the valence electrons are loosely held by
the nucleus and easily lost, because the interactive force between nucleus and
electron in outermost shells is week. So, it leading them to have low ionization
energies and acquiring stable noble gas configuration.
4. Why are the group I metals soft, low melting, and of low density?
Answer :
All alkali metals are soft and have low melting point. As alkali metals have
only one valence electron per metal atom, the energy binding the atoms in the crystal
lattice of the metal is low. Consequently, the metallic bonds in these metals are not
very strong and their melting point decrease on moving down the group.
Physical property

Li

Na

Rb

Cs

Melting point (K)

453.5

370.8

336.2

312.0

301.5

The densities of alkali metals are low as compared to other metals. While
alkali metals do have close packing of metal atoms in their lattice the large size of
their atoms cause them to have low densities. As we move down the group from Li to
Cs, even though there is an increase in atomic size, the simultaneous increase in
atomic mass compensates more than the increase in atomic size. The densities
(mass/volume) of alkali metals thus gradually increase from Li to Cs.
Physical property

Li

Na

Rb

Cs

Density (g cm -1)

0.53

0.97

0.86

1.53

1.90

5. Lithium is smallest ion in group I. It would therefore be expected to have the highest
ionic mobility, and hence solution of its salt would be expected to have a higher
conductivity than solution of caesium salt. Explain why is not so.
Answer:
Basically Lithium has a smaller size than Caesium, so it cause Lithium
movement will be faster, but the alkali metal ions are highly hydrated. The smaller the
size of the ion, the greater is the degree of hydration and the extent of hydration
decreases down the group. Lithium has a smaller size than caesium, so lithium gets
much more hydrated than caesium. It cause the alkali metals have the ionic radii in
water (called hydrated ionic radii) decreases in the order:
Li+ > Na+ > K+ > Rb+ > Cs+
Ion
Ionic radius (pm)
Hydrated radius (pm)
Ionic mobility (ohm-1 cm2 mol-1 )

Li+
76
340
33.5

Na+
102
276
43.5

K+
138
232
64.5

Rb+
152
228
67.5

Cs+
167
226
68.0

As a result, the hydrated Lithium ion being largest ionic size, has the lowest
mobility in water. On the other hand, the hydrated Caesium ion being smallest in size
has the highest mobility in water.