12 Interesting Facts about Potassium: Alkali Metal Atomic Element Number 19

1 Without potassium, we couldn’t live. Potassium is a vital ion (or electrolyte) that regulates nerve impulses and cellular osmosis in living things. Nerves require electrical impulses to control the muscles and involuntary actions including the heart and lungs. Deficiency can lead to hypokalemia which is potentially fatal. Symptoms include muscle weakness, cramp, heart irregularities and kidney failure.

2 Foods high in potassium include beans, apricots, dark leafy greens and plain yoghurt. As the soil is easily depleted of potassium, has to be constantly replenished.

3 Throw this alkali metal into water and it will fizzle in a lilac flame as the hydrogen ignites. Potassium is so reactive, it even oxides in the air making this element a favoured ingredient for pyrotechnics and firework displays.

Potassium Permanganate

4 Potassium Facts

Atomic number: 19

Atomic weight: 39.0983

State: silver grey solid

Category: alkali metal

Melting point: 63°C (146°F)

Boiling point:  759°C (1,398°F)

Is Potassium a Metal?

5 At metal goes, potassium has little in common with the likes of steel or copper. Potassium is a soft and lightweight metal that oxidizes instantly with oxygen. It can be cut with a knife at room temperature and float upon oil. It is the second lightest metal after lithium.

6 All but five percent of the world’s potassium is used in agriculture – namely fertilizer additive, namely potash. Potassium caused the huge increase in crop production across the world. It was Justus Von Lieburg, a German chemist who first made the connection between potassium and plant growth in 1840.

Potassium Element Facts

Potassium Symbol

7 But this life-giver has a dark side, for an overdose of potassium chloride can lead to diarrhoea, collapse of the central nervous system and heart malfunction. Pure potassium chloride is injected into terminal patients as euthanasia as well as capital punishment via lethal injection.

8 Potassium is formed by the burning of oxygen and neon in type 2 supernovas, which are stellar explosions of a star less than eight times the mass of our sun. Potassium makes up 2.4% of the earth’s crust.

9 Potassium is taken from the name ‘potash’ a fertilizer used since antiquity, consisting of the ashes of burnt wood, leaves and lime which is then soaked in water. Potash was also used to make early forms of soap and glass.

Who Discovered Potassium?

10 It was Sir Humphry Davy who in 1807 first isolated potassium metal from potash via electrolysis. A few days later, he isolated sodium by a similar method. But as potassium and sodium were similar in properties, potassium was not accepted as an element until a few years later.

11 A substance known as potassium permanganate or Condy’s Crystals is known as the survival element for the stranded in most situations, as it can have many vital uses, including water purifier, anti fungal agent, antiseptic and creating survival signals.

12 Like carbon, potassium can be used to date rocks, as the potassium isotope decays at a steady rate into argon, a simpler element. Potassium-carbon dating , or K-ar dating as it is also known, can accurately date rocks over a few thousand years old.