Compounds of Alkaline Earth Metals

Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Ra -these alkaline earth metal elements are some of the most abundant and well-known elements in everyday life. The earth’s crust consists of alkaline-earth metals, among which calcium is the most abundant. They are also found in abundance in the inner layers of soil and on sedimentary rocks, and often sulphide deposits. However, they are not found in their original state but in sulphates or carbonates since alkaline earth metals react very rigorously with the other elements.

Compounds of alkaline earth metals are chemical compounds that contain alkaline earth metal ions. The alkaline earth metals include beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, and radium and their compounds. These elements are found in the Group IIA of the periodic table. The various properties of these chemical compounds can be understood through their usage in medicine, metal processing, and pharmaceutical industries.

Physical Properties of alkaline earth metals

Earlier the group 2 elements were known as “alkaloids”. But because the name was almost similar to group 1 elements (alkali metals) which often led to confusion, it was renamed “alkaline earth metals”.

They are all shiny, soft, highly reactive metals at standard temperature and pressure, readily forming bases. When exposed to air, all alkaline earth metals react with water to form basic hydroxides, and their salts dissolve in water even when heated to high temperatures. The heavier alkaline earth metals react more vigorously than the lighter ones. They also differ in their physical properties, such as crystal shape, density, and colour.

They are somewhat harder and stronger than Alkali metals. Furthermore, they are tarnished by oxidising agents due to their low first ionisation energies and are all silvery-white in colour. The heavier members of the group tend to have a yellowish cast, while the lighter ones shade toward greyish-white.

Common physical properties of alkaline earth metals include:

• Silvery-white to slightly yellow shiny and soft
• Found in the earth’s crust
• Slightly reactive at standard temperature and pressure conditions (except for Be)
• Low density, melting points, and boiling points
• Malleable and ductile

Chemical properties of alkaline earth metals

The alkaline earth metals are a group in the periodic table, also known as alkaline metals. This group lies next to the d-block in group 2 and forms part of the s-block since they have full ns2 valence electron configurations.

The alkaline earth metals have a low effective nuclear charge, ionisation energies, and electronegativities compared to other groups within the periodic table. All the group 2 elements have very similar chemical properties to one another. 

Furthermore, the chemical properties of the elements in group 2 are similar to those of the alkali metals, especially lithium, sodium and potassium. These metals have high ionisation energies, and they all react vigorously with water. They also react with hydrochloric acid to produce chloride and free hydrogen. They are soft, ductile, silvery-white materials that tarnish in moist air. Both groups have low electronegativity and form cations in the chemical processes. Finally, these similarities are due to their electronic configurations. 

Other important chemical properties of alkaline earth metals

An atom of an alkaline earth metal has two electrons in its outermost shell, which is relatively small. So these elements tend to form +2 ions when they react with other elements in the air. For example, calcium ions in the air are produced by reaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide and water vapour.

The most common oxidation state for alkaline earth metals is +2. It means fewer electrons are available to react with other elements or compounds. In addition, the electrons they do have, are tightly bound to their nuclei, making them harder to remove than those of alkali metals and therefore less reactive overall. Therefore, many alkaline earth metals have few commercial applications besides being used in alloys like stainless steel.

To sum, the primary chemical properties of alkaline earth metals include:

• Relatively reactive (but less than strong Alkali metals)
• Low effective nuclear charge
• Low electron affinity and electronegativity
• Low Ionisation energies
• Formas divalent ions
• The oxidation state of 2+
• Formation of halides on reaction with halogens
• Reduces oxygen
• React with water to form strongly alkaline hydroxides (except Be)

How to explain anomalous properties of alkaline earth metals?

Alkaline earth metals form a family of chemical elements essential to all known life forms. The chemistry of alkaline earth metals is characterised by the presence of 2 valence electrons in the outermost s-orbital.

The alkaline earth metals have several properties that set them apart from other groups. For one thing, they are some of the heaviest elements that are soluble in water (although they will often become hydroxides). 

They also have many anomalous properties that differ from other groups of elements. The electron configuration theory can explain the properties of alkaline earth metals. According to the theory, since all alkaline earth elements contain two electrons in their valence shell, they are very reactive because they readily lose these electrons when they react with other elements. Because of this reactivity, alkaline earth metals form ions with very stable electron configurations.

Conclusion

At standard temperature and pressure, the alkaline earth metals are all silver-coloured, soft, and very reactive metals. They are all shiny and malleable, and they are each somewhat soft but stronger than Alkali metals. All alkaline earth metals react with water to produce bases, shown by hydroxides and hydrogen gas formation. 

The alkaline earth metals have the general chemical formula “M2+”, where M represents a metal. The oxidation number for each of these elements is 2. These elements are never found in nature in their pure form due to their high reactivity but in compounds of alkaline earth metals.

All the alkaline earth metals except beryllium can be found in nature as compounds, including carbonates (calcium carbonate), sulphides (calcium sulphide), halides (calcium fluoride), silicates (calcium silicate), and others. Furthermore, they have a low effective nuclear charge, thus fewer ionisation energies and electronegativities.