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 ...

You remember the sodium demo from chemistry class: Just a small chunk of the pure metal dropped into water causes a great big flash and bang. You might even remember ...

We teamed up with Cody's Lab to cut pure sodium metal. The sodium reacts explosively with water, creating fireballs and highlighting our adventurous approach to science experiments. Topics covered inc ...

Metals react differently. Some are very reactive and others are unreactive. Observations of reactions can be used to put metals into an order of reactivity. For example, copper is unreactive so it can ...

In a demonstration that defies basic assumptions in physics, researchers have created liquid sodium at room temperature. As a member of the alkali metals—the first column in the periodic table—sodium ...

A high school friend once related the story about how his father, a chemist for an environmental waste concern, disposed of a problematic quantity of metallic sodium by dumping it into one of the more ...

The reactivity series is a list that shows the order of reactivity of some common metals. Calcium (Ca) Reacts vigorously with strong heating. Brick red flame observed and white solid formed. 2Ca + O 2 ...