The Alkaline Earth Metals By Kevon Brown, Pete Mattocia and Wyatt Michel

Barium-Ba  Has an atomic number of 56  It’s a soft slivery metallic alkaline earth metal  It is never found in nature at its purest form due to the radioactivity in the air.  Its oxide is historically known as baryta.  But it reacts with water and carbon dioxide is not found as a metal.  The most common naturally occurring minerals are the very insoluble barium sulfate, and barium carbonate.  Boiling point is 3447 degrees Fahrenheit  It is used in enemas, and barium sulfate is used to coat the inner lining of intestines to allow a doctor examine a patients digestive system.

Beryllium-Be  The atomic number is 4  It’s a steel gray strong lightweight yet brittle alkaline earth metal.  It is primarily used as a hardening agent in alloys.  Commercially use of beryllium metal presents technical challenges due to the toxicity of beryllium containing dusts.  It is a relatively rare element in both the earth and the universe because it is not formed in conventional stellar nucleosynthesis.  It is known to be necessary for either plant and animal life.  The boiling point is 4476 degrees Fahrenheit  It is found in emeralds and aquamarines, and alloys of it are used for special electrical connections.

Calcium-Ca  The atomic number is 20  The atomic mass is  Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant earth element by mass and the earths crust.  It is also the fifth most dissolved ion in seawater by both malarity and mass.  It is essential for living organisms, particularly in cell physiology.  Calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals.  Boiling point is 2703 degrees Fahrenheit  It is used as building materials and has been used since ancient times. In various compounds it is also used as bleach.

Magnesium-Mg  The atomic number is 12.  The atomic mass is  It is the 9 th most abundant element in the universe by mass.  It constitutes about 2% of the earths crust by mass, and is the third most abundant element dissolved in seawater.  They are essential to all living cells, it is the 11 th most abundant element by mass in the human body.  The boiling point is 1994 degrees Fahrenheit  It is applied in making fireworks, signal flares, and tracer bullets.

Radium-Ra  Atomic number is 88  Its appearance is almost pure white but it oxidizes when it hits air and turns black  Its found in trace amounts or uranium ore.  Extremely radioactive  Its most stable isotope has half life of 1602 years and it decays into radon gas  The boiling point is 3159 degrees Fahrenheit  At one point it was used for luminous paint and watch dials, then it was phased out of use.

Strontium-Sr  The atomic number is 38  It is a soft-silver or yellow metallic element that is highly reactive chemically.  The metal turns yellow when it is exposed to air, it occurs naturally in the minerals Celestine and Strontianite.  It is present in radioactive fallout and has a half life of years.  It is softer then calcium and even more reactive in water.  It burns in air to produce strontium oxide and Strontium nitrate.  The boiling point is 2520 degrees Fahrenheit  Just like magnesium it is applied in making fireworks, signal flares, and tracer bullets.

Overall  Alkaline earth metals are used in a lot of various ways, from creating concrete and bricks to build buildings, to creating signal flares and military weapons like tracer bullets. Some of them like Barium and Beryllium have been used for medicine and jewelry. Who knows where we would be without the studies and discoveries of Alkaline earth metals.

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