Potassium
Potassium:
Bananas are an example of fruit rich in potassium.
Facts about Potassium:
- Potassium: Potassium is a soft silvery-white metal.
- Fun fact about Potassium: We eat potassium everyday! Potassium is very important as part of a balanced diet as it helps with keeping heart, muscles, and nerves healthy. Many fruits and vegetable are naturally rich in potassium, among which bananas are a famous example.
- Chemical symbol: K
- Atomic number: 19
A crystal structure containing Potassium:
(18-Crown-6)-(nitrato-O,O’)-potassium molecule and two 2,3,5,6-tetracyanopyrazine molecules. The potassium atom is in purple, carbon atoms in grey, oxygen in red, hydrogen in white, and nitrogen in blue.
Facts about this structure:
- Formula: C12 H24 K N O9,C8 N6
- Structure name: (18-Crown-6)-(nitrato-O,O’)-potassium 2,3,5,6-tetracyanopyrazine
- Fun fact about the structure: In this structure the potassium atom (purple) is connected to an 18-crown-6 group. This group is cyclic and consists of a ring of 18 atoms, repeating the CH2CH2O unit six times. It really looks like potassium is wearing a crown!
- CSD refcode: JIZCOL (What’s this?)
- Associated publication: Bing Han, Jianjiang Lu, J.K.Kochi, Cryst.Growth Des. (2008), 8, 1327 DOI: 10.1021/cg701138n
More about Potassium:
The name Potassium comes from the English potash, which refers to the methodology employed during its discovery. Like other elements of the periodic table, including its “neighbour” Sodium, the chemical symbol of Potassium is not a mere abbreviation of its name, but comes from a different root. In this case, K originates from the root of the word alkali, and this is indeed an alkali metal.
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