Alkali Earth Metals

Beryllium Magnesium Calcium

Strontium Barium Radium

The alkaline earth elements are metallic elements found in the second
group of the periodic table. All alkaline earth elements have an
oxidation number of +2, making them very reactive. Because of their
reactivity, the alkaline metals are not found free in nature.

Properties of
Alkali Earth Metals

Properties of Alkali Earth

Metals
Alkaline earth metals in their pure forms are
generally shiny and silvery.
They rarely occur in their pure form, however,
because they are very reactive.
Alkaline earth metals have two electrons in
their outermost electron layer, which take
relatively little energy to remove.

Properties of Alkali Earth

Metals
Alkaline earth metals have relatively low
ionization energies for their first two
electrons. Because of this, alkaline earth
metals exist with a 2+ charge most of the
time.
It is most common to find them in ionic
compounds or as ions.

Common Elements
of Alkali Earth Metals

Beryllium
Beryllium is a chemical element
with symbol "Be" and atomic
number 4. It is created through
stellar nucleosynthesis and is a
relatively rare element in the
universe

Beryllium
Discovery date - 1797
Discovered by Nicholas
Louis Vauquelin
Origin of the name - The
name is derived from
the Greek name for
beryl, 'beryllo'.

Beryllium is used in gears

and cogs particularly in the
aviation industry.
Beryllium is a silvery-white
metal. It is relatively soft and
has a low density.

Beryllium
Beryllium is used in alloys with copper or nickel
to make gyroscopes, springs, electrical contacts,
spot-welding electrodes and non-sparking tools.
Other beryllium alloys are used as structural
materials for high-speed aircraft, missiles,
spacecraft and communication satellites.

Beryllium
Beryllium is also used in nuclear reactors as a
reflector or moderator of neutrons.
The oxide has a very high melting point making it
useful in nuclear work as well as having ceramic
applications.
Beryllium and its compounds are toxic and
carcinogenic.
Beryllium is found in about 30 different mineral
species.

Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical
element with symbol Mg and
atomic number 12. It is a shiny
gray solid which bears a close
physical resemblance to the
other five elements in the second
column of the periodic table

Magnesium
Discovery date - 1755
Discovered by
Joseph Black
Origin of the name The name is derived
from Magnesia, a
district of Eastern
Thessaly in Greece.

The image is inspired by chlorophyll,

the molecule contained in green
plants that enables them to
photosynthesise. Chlorophyll contains
a single atom of magnesium at its
centre.
A silvery-white metal that ignites
easily in air and burns with a bright
light.

Magnesium
Magnesium is one-third less dense than
aluminum.
Magnesium is used in products that benefit from
being lightweight, such as car seats, luggage,
laptops, cameras and power tools.
As magnesium ignites easily in air and burns
with a bright light, its used in flares, fireworks
and sparklers.

Magnesium
Magnesium sulfate is sometimes used as a
mordant for dyes.
Grignard reagents are organic magnesium
compounds that are important for the chemical
industry.
In humans, magnesium is essential to the working
of hundreds of enzymes.

Magnesium
Magnesium is the eighth most abundant
element in the Earths crust, but does not
occur uncombined in nature.
Magnesium is an essential element in both
plant and animal life. Without magnesium
photosynthesis could not take place, and life
as we know it would not exist.

Calcium
Calcium is a chemical
element with symbol Ca and
atomic number 20. Calcium
is a soft gray alkaline earth
metal, fifth-most-abundant
element by mass in the
Earth's crust.

Calcium
Discovery date - 1808
Discovered by
Humphry Davy
Origin of the nameThe name is derived
from the Latin 'calx'
meaning lime.

The spiral shell and bones reflect the

essential presence of calcium in all
living things.
Calcium is a silvery-white, soft metal
that tarnishes rapidly in air and
reacts with water.

Calcium
Calcium metal is used as a reducing agent in
preparing other metals such as thorium and
uranium.
Calcium compounds are widely used. There are
vast deposits of limestone (calcium carbonate)
used directly as a building stone and indirectly for
cement.

Calcium
Calcium is essential to all living things, particularly
for the growth of healthy teeth and bones.
Calcium is the fifth most abundant metal in the
Earths crust (4.1%).
Calcium metal is prepared commercially by
heating lime with aluminum in a vacuum.

Strontium
Strontium is a chemical
element with symbol Sr
and atomic number 38. An
alkaline earth metal,
strontium is a soft silverwhite or yellowish metallic
element that is highly
reactive chemically. The
metal turns yellow when it
is exposed to air.

Strontium
Discovery date - 1790
Discovered by Adair
Crawford
Origin of the name Strontium is named
after Strontian, a
small town in
Scotland.

The image is of a highly abstracted

metallic mushroom cloud. It
alludes to the presence of
strontium in nuclear fallout.
A soft, silvery metal that burns in
air and reacts with water.

Strontium
Strontium is best known for the brilliant reds its
salts give to fireworks and flares.
Strontium chloride hexahydrate is an ingredient in
toothpaste for sensitive teeth.
Strontium is incorporated into the shells of some
deep-sea creatures and is essential to some stony
corals.
Strontium is found mainly in the minerals
celestite and strontianite.

Barium
Barium is a chemical
element with symbol Ba
and atomic number 56. It
is the fifth element in
Group 2, a soft silvery
metallic alkaline earth
metal. Because of its
high chemical reactivity
barium is never found in
nature as a free element.

Barium
Discovery date - 1808
Discovered by
Humphry Davy
Origin of the name The name comes
from the Greek
'barys', meaning
heavy.

The image is based on x-ray

radiographs of the human stomach
and intestines in patients who have
been given a barium meal.
Barium is a soft, silvery metal that
rapidly tarnishes in air and reacts
with water.

Barium
Barium is not an extensively used element.
All barium compounds are toxic; however, barium
sulfate is insoluble and so can be safely
swallowed.
Barium carbonate has been used in the past as a
rat poison. Barium nitrate gives fireworks a green
colour.
Barium occurs only in combination with other
elements.

Radium
Radium is a chemical
element with symbol Ra
and atomic number 88.
It is the sixth element
in group 2 of the
periodic table, also
known as the alkaline
earth metals.

Radium
Discovery date - 1898
Discovered by Pierre
and Marie Curie
Origin of the name The name is derived
from the Latin
'radius', meaning ray.

The image represents the former

use of radium in luminous paint
used for clock and watch dials.
A soft, shiny and silvery radioactive
metal.

Radium
Radium now has few uses, because it is so highly
radioactive.
Radium-223 is sometimes used to treat prostate
cancer that has spread to the bones.
Radium used to be used in luminous paints, for
example in clock and watch dials.
Radium is present in all uranium ores, and could
be extracted as a by-product of uranium refining.