Alkaline Earth Metals
T’Keyah Driskell
&
Lyric Williams
Introduction
• In our PowerPoint Presentation, we will be
explaining what alkaline earth metals are
and some of their uses, reactions, properties,
etc.
• We will tell what the four metals in the group
are, and their mass, density, and melting
point are.
Enjoy!
About alkaline earth metals
Alkaline Earth Metals are metallic elements
found in the second group of the periodic table.
All alkaline earth metals have an oxidation
number of +2, making them very reactive.
Because of the reactivity, these metals are not
found free in nature. The elements of the
alkaline earth metals are: Beryllium,
magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, and
radium.
Physical and chemical properties
The alkaline earth metals are silver
colored, soft metals, which react
readily with halogens to form ionic
salts, and with water, though not as
rapidly as the alkali metals, to form
strong alkaline (basic) hydroxides.
For example, where sodium and
potassium react with water at room
temperature, magnesium reacts
only with steam and calcium with
hot water:
Beryllium is an exception: It does
not react with water or steam, and
its halides are covalent.
The chemical properties of Group 2
elements are dominated by the
strong reducing power of the metals.
The elements become increasingly
electropositive on descending the
Group. All the metals except
beryllium form oxides in air at room
temperature which dulls the surface
of the metal. Barium is so reactive it
is stored under oil.
All the metals except beryllium
reduce water and dilute acids to
hydrogen. Magnesium reacts only
slowly with water unless the water is
boiling, but calcium reacts rapidly
even at room temperature, and forms
a cloudy white suspension of
sparingly soluble calcium hydroxide.
Calcium, strontium and barium can
reduce hydrogen gas when heated,
forming the hydride:
Hydrogen: All of the
Alkaline Earth Metals react
with hydrogen to create
metallic hydrides.
Reactions
Oxygen: The alkaline earth metals react with
oxygen to produce metal oxides. An oxide is
just a compound involving oxygen.
Halogens: When reacting with halogens, these
metals create metal halides. Halide refers to a
compound that is one part halogen.
Water: Be is shown to not react with
water, however Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba
do react to form hydroxides, or
bases.
uses
Beryllium is used mostly for military applications. but there are other
uses of beryllium, as well. Due to its light weight and other properties,
beryllium is also used in mechanics when stiffness, light weight, and
dimensional stability are required at wide temperature ranges
Magnesium has many different uses. One of its most common uses was in industry,
where it has many structural advantages over other materials such as aluminum.
Magnesium is also often alloyed with aluminum or zinc to form materials with more
desirable properties than any pure metal. Magnesium has many other uses in industrial
applications, such as having a role in the production of iron and steel, and the production
of titanium.
Calcium also has many uses. One of its uses is as a reducing agent in the separation of other
metals form ore, such as uranium. It is also used in the production of the alloys of many
metals, such as aluminum and copper alloys, and is also used to deoxidize alloys as well.
Calcium also has a role in the making of cheese, mortars, and cement.
Strontium and barium do not have as many applications as the lighter alkaline earth
metals, but still have uses. Strontium carbonate is often used in the manufacturing of red
fireworks. Barium has some use in vacuum tubes to remove gases.
Due to its radioactivity, radium no longer has many applications, but it used to have many.
Radium used to be used often in luminous paints. Radium used to be added to drinking
water, toothpaste, and many other products. Radium is no longer even used for its radioactive
properties
Data
Atomic Mass Relative
Atomic Mass
Melting
Point/K
Density/ kg
Be
4
9.012
1551
1847.7
Mg
12
24.31
922
1738
Ca
20
40.08
1112
1550
Sr
38
87.62
1042
2540
Ba
56
137.33
1002
3594
Ra
88
226
1292
5 grams per
cubic
centimeter
Conclusion
Alkaline Earth Metals are metals in the second
group b of the periodic table. In all there are
only six of these metals (Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba,
and Ra). Each of these metals have there own
uses and have some what kind of the same
reactions.
What did we learn?
 What we learned about alkaline earth metals is that they all
share similar properties (shiny, silvery white, somewhat
reactive metals at standard and temperature and pressure).
We learned that all the alkaline earth metals readily loose
their two outermost electrons to form charged cations. All
alkaline earth metals except beryllium react with water to
form strongly alkaline hydroxides. All of these metals
except magnesium and strontium have at least one
occurring radioisotope. We also learned that Strontium
plays an important role in marine aquatic life, and that
beryllium and radium are very toxic.