If you remember high school chemistry class at all, you might remember what happens when you drop potassium and sodium into water: It creates a big flashing, sparking explosion and remains a classic ...

For decades, science enthusiasts have delighted at the famously energetic way sodium and potassium explode on contact with water. Researchers in Europe now show that the long-accepted explanation for ...

We always think that water is the perfect way to quench fires and to cool down metals, but that’s not always true, because water doesn’t deal so well with all the elements. When alkali metals like ...

The spectacular reaction of alkali metals with water was poorly understood — despite being a staple of chemistry classes. It’s the classic piece of chemical tomfoolery: take a lump of sodium or ...

Even if you slept your way through high school chemistry, there was typically one day that ensured you were awake. That’s when, after an extensive safety lecture, the teacher brought out the alkali ...