Why does radium react with water

One interesting consequence of this is that tin Sn is often sprayed as a protective layer on iron cans to prevent the can from corroding. The pure elements in this family do not tend to react with water.

Compounds of nitrogen nitrates and nitrites as well as nitrogen gas N 2 dissolve in water but do not react. As mentioned earlier, many Group 1 and Group 2 oxides react with water to form metal hydroxides. The nonmetal oxides react with water to form oxoacids. Examples include phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid. Generally halogens react with water to give their halides and hypohalides. The halogen gases vary in their reactions with water due to their different electronegativities.

The products of this reaction include oxygen gas and hydrogen fluoride. Free for Educational Use only, chemlegin. Alkali Metals Oxides and Water Oxides of Group 1 elements also react with water to create basic solutions.

Alkali Metal Hydrides and Water Similarly to the Group 1 oxides, the hydrides of the Group 1 elements react with water to form a basic solution. Alkaline Earth Metal Oxides and Water Similarly to the alkali metal oxides, alkaline earth metal monoxides combine with water to form metal hydroxide salts as illustrated in the equation below. Alkaline Earth Metal Hydrides and Water With the exception of beryllium Be , the alkaline metal hydrides react with water to produce the metal hydroxide and hydrogen gas.

Group Boron Family Group 13 elements are not very reactive with water. Group Carbon Family For the most part, Group 14 elements do not react with water.

Figure: An empty tin can. Steel cans are made of tinplate tin-coated steel or of tin-free steel. Group Nitrogen Family The pure elements in this family do not tend to react with water. Group Oxygen Family As mentioned earlier, many Group 1 and Group 2 oxides react with water to form metal hydroxides. Group Halogens Generally halogens react with water to give their halides and hypohalides. Group Noble Gases The noble gases do not react with water.

References Birk, James P. Washington: American Chemical Society, Huheey, James E. Keiter, and Richard L. Inorganic Chemistry: Principles of Structure and Relativity. New York: HarperCollins College, The activation energy for a reaction is the minimum amount of energy which is needed in order for the reaction to take place.

It doesn't matter how exothermic the reaction would be once it got started - if there is a high activation energy barrier, the reaction will take place very slowly, if at all. Note: This is a simplification in the case of beryllium. Beryllium oxide isn't fully ionic. There isn't enough electronegativity difference between the beryllium and oxygen for the beryllium to lose control of the bonding pair of electrons and form ions. The approach we are taking here is in line with the sort of answer that you would be expected to give at A level.

Thinking about beryllium as an entirely different case would make this argument unnecessarily complicated. The formation of the ions from the original metal involves various stages all of which require the input of energy - contributing to the activation energy of the reaction. These stages involve the input of:. This is the energy needed to break the bonds holding the atoms together in the metallic lattice. After this, there will be a number of steps which give out heat again - leading to the formation of the products, and overall exothermic reactions.

Notice that the ionisation energies dominate this - particularly the second ionisation energies. Ionisation energies fall as you go down the Group. Because it gets easier to form the ions, the reactions will happen more quickly. Note: If you are unhappy about the changes in ionisation energy as you go down Group 2 you should follow this link. You will find a further link to a wider discussion of ionisation energy if you need it. The reactions become easier as the energy needed to form positive ions falls.

This is mainly due to a decrease in ionisation energy as you go down the Group. This leads to lower activation energies, and therefore faster reactions.

If this is the first set of questions you have done, please read the introductory page before you start. Magnesium Magnesium burns in steam to produce white magnesium oxide and hydrogen gas.

Calcium, strontium and barium These all react with cold water with increasing vigour to give the metal hydroxide and hydrogen. Very clean magnesium ribbon has a mild reaction with cold water, given below.

After several minutes, hydrogen gas bubbles form on its surface, and the coil of magnesium ribbon usually floats to the surface. However, the reaction is short-lived because the magnesium hydroxide formed is almost insoluble in water and forms a barrier on the magnesium preventing further reaction.

As a general rule, if a metal reacts with cold water, the metal hydroxide is produced. If it reacts with steam, the metal oxide is formed. This is because the metal hydroxides thermally decompose to the oxide and water. These metals react with cold water with increasing vigor to give the metal hydroxide and hydrogen. Strontium and barium have reactivities similar to that of lithium.

Calcium, for example, reacts fairly vigorously and exothermically with cold water. Bubbles of hydrogen gas are given off, and a white precipitate of calcium hydroxide is formed, together with an alkaline solution also of calcium hydroxide, which is slightly water-soluble. The equation for the reactions of any of these metals would is as follows:. The hydroxide solubilities increase down the group. Calcium hydroxide is mainly formed as a white precipitate although some does dissolve.

Less precipitate is formed down the group with increasing solubility. The enthalpy change of a reaction is a measure of the amount of heat absorbed or evolved when the reaction takes place.