What is the primary reason for the increasing reactivity of alkali metals down t
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the primary reason for the increasing reactivity of alkali metals down the group?
Increasing atomic size
Decreasing ionization energy
Increasing electronegativity
Increasing metallic character
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the primary reason for the increasing reactivity of alkali metals down the group?
Step 1: Understand what alkali metals are. They are the elements in Group 1 of the periodic table, like lithium, sodium, and potassium.
Step 2: Know that reactivity means how easily an element can react with other substances.
Step 3: Learn about ionization energy. This is the energy needed to remove an electron from an atom.
Step 4: Realize that alkali metals have one electron in their outer shell, which they want to lose to become stable.
Step 5: Recognize that as you go down the group from lithium to cesium, the ionization energy decreases. This means it takes less energy to remove that outer electron.
Step 6: Conclude that because it is easier to remove the outer electron, alkali metals become more reactive as you go down the group.
