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 ...

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 ...

Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. If you remember high school chemistry class at all, you might remember what happens when you drop potassium and sodium ...

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 ...