Properties of the Group 1 Elements
- The group 1 metals are known as the alkali metals
- They form alkaline solutions when they react with water
- The group 1 metals are lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium and francium and they are found in the first column of the periodic table
- The alkali metals share similar characteristic chemical properties because they each have one electron in their outermost shell
- Some of these properties are:
- They are all soft metals which can easily be cut with a knife
- They have relatively low densities and low melting points
- They are very reactive (they only need to lose one electron to become highly stable)
The alkali metals lie on the far left of the periodic table, in the very first group