Even if you slept your way through high school chemistry, there was typically one day that ensured you were awake. That’s when, after an extensive safety lecture, the teacher brought out the alkali ...

We always think that water is the perfect way to quench fires and to cool down metals, but that’s not always true, because water doesn’t deal so well with all the elements. When alkali metals like ...

When a small piece of sodium is placed in a petri dish with water and phenolphthalein, the sodium becomes a molten ball and darts around the dish, leaving a pink trail. The reactions of potassium, ...

Many of us gained our first appreciation for chemistry upon witnessing a high school teacher drop a chunk of sodium into a beakerful of water. You may think you know the explanation behind the ...