The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr). Together with hydrogen they constitute group 1, which lies in the s-block of the periodic table. All alkali metals have their outermost electron in an s-orbital: this shared electron configuration results in their having very similar characteristic properties. Indeed, the alkali metals provide the best example of group trends in properties in the periodic table, with elements exhibiting well-characterised homologous behaviour. This family of elements is also known as the lithium family after its leading element.
Astatine is a chemical element; it has symbol At and atomic number 85. It is the rarest naturally occurring element in the Earth's crust, occurring only as the decay product of various heavier elements. All of astatine's isotopes are short-lived; the most stable is astatine-210, with a half-life of 8.1 hours. Consequently, a solid sample of the element has never been seen, because any macroscopic specimen would be immediately vaporized by the heat of its radioactivity.
The chalcogens are the chemical elements in group 16 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the oxygen family. Group 16 consists of the elements oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), and the radioactive elements polonium (Po) and livermorium (Lv). Often, oxygen is treated separately from the other chalcogens, sometimes even excluded from the scope of the term "chalcogen" altogether, due to its very different chemical behavior from sulfur, selenium, tellurium, and polonium. The word "chalcogen" is derived from a combination of the Greek word khalkόs (χαλκός) principally meaning copper, and the Latinized Greek word genēs, meaning born or produced.
Polonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Po and atomic number 84. A rare and highly radioactive metal with no stable isotopes, polonium is a chalcogen and chemically similar to selenium and tellurium, though its metallic character resembles that of its horizontal neighbors in the periodic table: thallium, lead, and bismuth. Due to the short half-life of all its isotopes, its natural occurrence is limited to tiny traces of the fleeting polonium-210 in uranium ores, as it is the penultimate daughter of natural uranium-238. Though longer-lived isotopes exist, such as the 124 years half-life of polonium-209, they are much more difficult to produce. Today, polonium is usually produced in milligram quantities by the neutron irradiation of bismuth. Due to its intense radioactivity, which results in the radiolysis of chemical bonds and radioactive self-heating, its chemistry has mostly been investigated on the trace scale only.
In chemistry, a hydride is formally the anion of hydrogen (H−), a hydrogen atom with two electrons. The term is applied loosely. At one extreme, all compounds containing covalently bound H atoms are called hydrides: water (H2O) is a hydride of oxygen, ammonia is a hydride of nitrogen, etc. For inorganic chemists, hydrides refer to compounds and ions in which hydrogen is covalently attached to a less electronegative element. In such cases, the H centre has nucleophilic character, which contrasts with the protic character of acids. The hydride anion is very rarely observed.
Potassium ferricyanide is the chemical compound with the formula K3[Fe(CN)6]. This bright red salt contains the octahedrally coordinated [Fe(CN)6]3− ion. It is soluble in water and its solution shows some green-yellow fluorescence. It was discovered in 1822 by Leopold Gmelin.
Potassium oxide (K2O) is an ionic compound of potassium and oxygen. It is a base. This pale yellow solid is the simplest oxide of potassium. It is a highly reactive compound that is rarely encountered. Some industrial materials, such as fertilizers and cements, are assayed assuming the percent composition that would be equivalent to K2O.
Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, and is commonly called caustic potash.
Potassium bisulfate/ Potassium bisulphate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KHSO4 and is the potassium acid salt of sulfuric acid. It is a white, water-soluble solid.
Potassium sulfide is an inorganic compound with the formula K2S. The colourless solid is rarely encountered, because it reacts readily with water, a reaction that affords potassium hydrosulfide (KSH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH). Most commonly, the term potassium sulfide refers loosely to this mixture, not the anhydrous solid.
Polonium hydride (also known as polonium dihydride, hydrogen polonide, or polane) is a chemical compound with the formula PoH2. It is a liquid at room temperature, the second hydrogen chalcogenide with this property after water. It is very unstable chemically and tends to decompose into elemental polonium and hydrogen. It is a volatile and very labile compound, from which many polonides can be derived. Additionally, it is radioactive.
A polonide is a chemical compound of the radioactive element polonium with any element less electronegative than polonium. Polonides are usually prepared by a direct reaction between the elements at temperatures of around 300–400 °C. They are amongst the most chemically stable compounds of polonium, and can be divided into two broad groups:
Polonium dioxide (also known as polonium(IV) oxide) is a chemical compound with the formula PoO2. It is one of three oxides of polonium, the other two being polonium monoxide (PoO) and polonium trioxide (PoO3). It is a pale yellow crystalline solid at room temperature. Under lowered pressure (such as a vacuum), it decomposes into elemental polonium and oxygen at 500 °C. It is the most stable oxide of polonium and is an interchalcogen.
Magnesium polonide (MgPo) is a salt of magnesium and polonium. It is a polonide, a set of very chemically stable compounds of polonium.
Polonium dibromide (also known as polonium(II) bromide) is a chemical compound with the formula PoBr2. This salt is a purple-brown crystalline solid at room temperature. It sublimes (decomposing slightly) at 110 °C/30 μ and decomposes when melted in nitrogen gas at 270–280 °C.
Lithium polonide is a chemical compound with the formula Li2Po. It is a polonide, a set of very chemically stable compounds of polonium.
Sodium polonide is a radioactive chemical compound with the formula Na2Po. This salt is a polonide, a set of very chemically stable compounds of polonium. Due to the difference in electronegativity (ΔEN) between sodium and polonium and the slight non-metallic character of polonium, it is intermediate between intermetallic phases and ionic compounds.
A hypothetical chemical compound is a chemical compound that has been conceived of, but is not known to have been synthesized, observed, or isolated.
Organopolonium chemistry describes the synthesis and properties of chemical compounds containing a carbon to polonium chemical bond.
Calcium polonide is an intermetallic compound with the chemical formula CaPo. It is made up of calcium and polonium. Rather than being found in nature, the compound is entirely synthetic, and difficult to study, due to polonium's high vapor pressure, radioactivity, and easy oxidation in air.
