Alkaline earth metal

Alkaline Earth Metal is a group of metallic elements on the second group of the periodic table. The Alkaline Earth Metals contain Beryllium, Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium, Barium, and Radium. Its elements usually has silvery metal appearances, and can't be found in nature without being combined with different elements. Alkaline earth metals usually react in water and oxygen, so they are kept away from oxygen and water when in natural form. They are used in many different ways, for example, strontium and barium is used to make firework colors red and green.

Physical Properties
Alkaline Earth Metals are metallic elements found on the second group of the periodic table. All of the elements have +2 oxidation numbers making them very reactive, which also makes them not able to be found in nature except when they are combined with different elements. Alkaline Earth Metals are distributed in rock structure. They have high boiling and melting points but have low density, electron affinity, and electronegativity. Alkaline earth metals are silvery and shiny in their pure form. Alkaline Earth metals quickly oxidize turning into a dull gray or yellow color. All the metals are malleable.

Chemical Properties
Every Alkaline Earth Metals have two electrons in its outer shell, which is s orbital. When combining with nonmetal element alkaline earth metals usually give up its two electrons. Alkaline earth metals mostly react to water, nitrogen, and burns in air or oxygen. Beryllium, magnesium, and calcium burn in oxygen forming monoxide, and strontium, barium and radium form a peroxides which is a compound formed with two oxygens. Not all of alkaline earth metals react with water. Beryllium does not react with water, magnesium reacts with boiling water, and the rest of alkaline earth metals react with cold water forming hydroxides and liberating hydrogen. For reaction to nitrogen, all the elements in alkaline earth metals burn in nitrogen and they form ionic nitrides.

Beryllium
Beryllium is the first element on the group of the alkaline earth metal. The symbol is Be and atomic number is 4; it is an important element in many minerals. Beryllium is a light metal with gray color, and a very high melting point, it's also nonmagnetic and has a high thermal conductivity. Beryllium is relatively transparent to X-rays so it is used to make windows of X-ray tubes. Beryllium can not be found in a pure form. It is a found within many different elements found in earth's crust. Beryllium is used usually used in electronics and lots of other electronic related products.



Magnesium
Magnesium is the second element on the alkaline earth metals. The atomic number is 12, and atomic symbol is Mg. Magnesium is the eighth most common element in the earth's crust. It makes up 2 percent of the earth's crust. Magnesium looks silvery and metal-like when it is combined with other elements; for example, carbon, calcium, and oxygen. Magnesium is chemically reactive, and it can combined with most non-metals and almost every acid.



Calcium
Calcium is the third element among the alkaline earth metal elements. The atomic number is 20, and the atomic symbol is Ca. Calcium is usually soft gray and soft for a metal; it can not be found in its natural form but can be found in a metallic form when it is combined with different elements like lime (CaO). Calcium can be used in different properties, like for certain alloys it is used to remove oxygen, sulfur, and carbon. Calcium is also used to manufacture other metals, for example, uranium and thorium. Calcium is non-toxic and is an essential for living organisms.



Strontium
Strontium is a element that has similar chemical and physical properties to calcium; its chemical symbol is Sr and its atomic number is 38. Strontium is kept away from air and water since it reacts vigorously in water and tarnishes in air. Strontium is naturally found combined with different elements because of its reaction in the air. Strontium's appearance is usually silvery, and is very soft. Strontium is used in making red firework colors, and strontium aluminate is used to make glow-in-the-dark plastics and paints that people used nowadays. Also strontium chloride hexahydrate is used in a toothpaste for sensitive teeth.



Barium
Barium's atomic number is 56 and chemical symbol is Ba. Barium is a soft silvery-white metal.Barium is the 14th most abundant element in the earth's crust; it is found in soils and foods like seaweed, nuts, fish, and certain plants. Barium is used in glassmaking, used to make paint, and barium nitrate makes fireworks green color. Barium is usually combined and used with other elements, for example, barium sulfate is a common barium compound that is used for rubber, plastics, and resin's filler.

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