Potassium and Calcium - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of potassium and calcium, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Potassium vs Calcium.

potassium and calcium - comparison

Compare potassium with another element

Compare calcium with another element

Potassium and Calcium – About Elements

Potassium

Potassium was first isolated from potash, the ashes of plants, from which its name derives. In the periodic table, potassium is one of the alkali metals. All of the alkali metals have a single valence electron in the outer electron shell, which is easily removed to create an ion with a positive charge – a cation, which combines with anions to form salts. Naturally occurring potassium is composed of three isotopes, of which 40K is radioactive. Traces of 40K are found in all potassium, and it is the most common radioisotope in the human body.

Calcium

Calcium is an alkaline earth metal, it is a reactive pale yellow metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth’s crust and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium.

Potassium in Periodic Table

Calcium in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Potassium and Calcium – Applications

Potassium

Potassium (K) is an essential nutrient for plant growth. It’s classified as a macronutrient because plants take up large quantities of K during their life cycle. Agricultural fertilizers consume 95% of global potassium chemical production, and about 90% of this potassium is supplied as KCl. Due to its high degree of reactivity, pure potassium is rarely used in its elemental /metallic form. It is used as a powerful reducing agent in organic chemistry. Potassium/Sodium alloys are It used as a heat exchange medium . The heat in the potassium warms water and makes it hot enough to boil. Then water is changed into steam, which is used to work devices that generate electricity.

Calcium

The largest use of metallic calcium is in steelmaking, due to its strong chemical affinity for oxygen and sulfur. Its oxides and sulfides, once formed, give liquid lime aluminate and sulfide inclusions in steel which float out. Calcium compounds are used as manufacture of insecticides, paints, blackboard chalk, textile and fireworks.

Potassium and Calcium – Comparison in Table

Element	Potassium	Calcium
Density	0.856 g/cm3	1.55 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	N/A	110 MPa
Yield Strength	N/A	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	3.53 GPa	20 GPa
Mohs Scale	0.4	1.5
Brinell Hardness	0.36 MPa	170 – 400 MPa
Vickers Hardness	N/A	N/A
Melting Point	63.25 °C	842 °C
Boiling Point	760 °C	1484 °C
Thermal Conductivity	102.4 W/mK	200 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	83 µm/mK	22.3 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.75 J/g K	0.63 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	2.334 kJ/mol	8.54 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	79.87 kJ/mol	153.3 kJ/mol