Lithium and Potassium - Comparison - Properties

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

lithium and potassium - comparison

Compare lithium with another element

Compare potassium with another element

Lithium and Potassium – About Elements

Lithium

It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and is stored in mineral oil.

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.

Lithium in Periodic Table

Potassium in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Lithium and Potassium – Applications

Lithium

Lithium has many applications, from lubricating grease, alloying additions in particular for aluminium and magnesium alloys, to glazes for ceramics, and finally, lithium batteries. In particular, lithium is and will continue to play an increasingly important role in the battery-powered clean air future. Lithium batteries are widely used in portable consumer electronic devices, and in electric vehicles ranging from full sized vehicles to radio controlled toys. The term “lithium battery” refers to a family of different lithium-metal chemistries, comprising many types of cathodes and electrolytes but all with metallic lithium as the anode.

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.

Lithium and Potassium – Comparison in Table

Element	Lithium	Potassium
Density	0.535 g/cm3	0.856 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	1.5 MPa	N/A
Yield Strength	N/A	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	4.9 GPa	3.53 GPa
Mohs Scale	0.6	0.4
Brinell Hardness	5 MPa	0.36 MPa
Vickers Hardness	N/A	N/A
Melting Point	180.5 °C	63.25 °C
Boiling Point	1342 °C	760 °C
Thermal Conductivity	85 W/mK	102.4 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	46 µm/mK	83 µm/mK
Specific Heat	3.6 J/g K	0.75 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	3 kJ/mol	2.334 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	145.92 kJ/mol	79.87 kJ/mol