Lithium Reacting With Water! |
Basic Facts!
Physical Properties
Lithium has atomic number 3
and and atomic mass of 6.941. Its melting point is 453.54K and its boiling
point is 1,597K. It is a soft, silvery-white metal that reacts with water
and burns in air with a white flame. It is the least dense metal, as a mater
of fact, when it is solid (at 298 K) it is only about half as dense as
water.
History:
Lithium was discovered in
1817 by Johann Arvedson in Sweden. It's name comes from the Greek word "Lithos"
meaning stone.
Uses:
Lithium, in it's salt form, is
most commonly used to treat
Bipolar Disorder. It is used in light
weight batteries such as the ones used in a pacemaker. The 200-inch
telescope at Mt. Palomar contains lithium as a major ingredient. On a hot
day you should be thankful for lithium because it is used in the air
conditioning unit that is cooling you down. Lithium is added in small
amounts to magnesium, aluminum, or lead-base alloys; it is also used as a degasifier in iron, steel, and copper refining. In addition, lithium is used
to scavenge small amounts of oxygen and nitrogen in electronic vacuum tubes.
Trace amounts of lithium and its compounds color a flame bright red; they
are used in pyrotechnics.
Source:
Lithium is widely distributed in nature; it is found in the soil, in
plants,
in animals, and in the
human body. It is also found in the sun. Lithium may
be profitably extracted from ores containing as little as 1% lithium
(measured as lithium oxide). Some commercially important minerals are lepidolite, petalite, spodumene, and amblygonite
Compounds: .
Lithium forms many inorganic
compounds, among them a hydride (LiH), a nitride (Li3N), an oxide (lithia,
Li2O), a hydroxide (LiOH), a carbide (Li2C2), a carbonate (Li2CO3), and a
phosphate (Li3PO4). When heated it reacts directly with the halogens to form
halides. Lithium aluminum hydride (LiAlH4) is an important reagent in
organic chemistry. Lithium also forms numerous organic compounds. One
compound of major importance is lithium stearate, produced by cooking tallow
(or other animal fat) with lithium hydroxide; lithium stearate is used to
transform oil into lithium-base lubricating greases, which have found
extensive use in the automotive industry. Lithium carbonate is used in
special glasses and ceramic glazes. Lithium chloride and bromide are used as
brazing and welding fluxes; they are also used in air conditioning systems
because they are very hygroscopic, i.e., they absorb moisture. Lithium
hydroxide is used to increase the capacity of alkaline storage cells.
Lithium compounds are used in the nuclear energy industry, in the
preparation of plastics and synthetic rubber, and in the synthesis of
vitamin A.
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