Same chapter3 marksDifficulty: Medium
Describe the Solvay process for the manufacture of sodium carbonate in outline.
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3 marksDifficulty: Medium
Explain why the alkali metals are strong reducing agents and why their reactivity increases down the group.
Original Khojo Papers practice question — not from a past board paper.
Answer
They have a single loosely held valence electron and low ionisation enthalpy, so they lose that electron readily, which is what a reducing agent does. Down the group the atoms get larger, the electron is further from the nucleus and better shielded, so it is lost still more easily and the reactivity increases.
No citable source has been recorded for this record. Treat it as practice material, not as fact.
Explanation
The reaction with water becomes correspondingly more violent from lithium to caesium.
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