Lights, camera, kaboom! With snapshots from a high-speed camera, chemists can finally explain why sodium and other alkali metals blow up in water. “What we found out is that there’s a crucial piece of ...

When a chunk of alkali metal gets tossed into water, it explodes. But when a team of scientists gently placed a liquid drop of a sodium-potassium alloy on top of a water surface, they observed a ...

There are six alkali metals: Lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs) and francium (Fr). You’re probably familiar with lithium, since it’s inside the batteries of all your ...

The spectacular reaction of alkali metals with water was poorly understood — despite being a staple of chemistry classes. It’s the classic piece of chemical tomfoolery: take a lump of sodium or ...

Alkali metals can react explosively with water and it is textbook knowledge that this vigorous behaviour results from heat release, steam formation and ignition of the hydrogen gas that is produced.

Furuya Metal Co., Ltd. and Asahi Kasei Corp. have, in collaboration with Nobian Industrial Chemicals B.V. and Mastermelt Ltd, embarked on a demonstration trial regarding the recycling of metals used ...