The periodic table stares down from the walls of just about every chemistry lab. The credit for its creation generally goes to Dimitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist who in 1869 wrote out the known ...

Lithium metal, a soft solid, that can be cut with a knife, is far too reactive to be found in its natural (metallic) form. This is because it belongs to the Group 1 element (alkali metals) on the ...

An alkali is derived from the Arabic word 'qali' means ' from the ashes'. As ashes are mixed with water used for cleaning products and are made of alkali materials. It is a basic hydroxide or ionic ...

The periodic table arranges all the chemical elements in a specific way. Patterns are visible in the way that elements behave, and this allows us to make predictions about other elements. Gethin: And ...