Properties of alkali Earth Metals Introduction: The elements of 2nd A group of the periodic table are called the

alkaline Earth metals. These are called alkaline earth metals because the oxides of these bases are alkali and they are found in the earth crust. There are following alkaline earth metals: Be (4), Mg (12), Ca (20), Sr (38), Ba (56), Ra (88) Properties of Alkaline Earth Metals: Electronic configuration: the outermost shell of these metals has 2 electrons and penultimate shell contains 8 electrons except the first member Be. The electronic configurations of these elements are given below: Be (4) 1s2 2s2 Mg (12) 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 Ca (20) 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 Sr (38) 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d 104p6 5s2 Ba (56) 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d 104p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 Ra (88) 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d 104p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p6 7s2 Oxidation states these elements show the oxidation state of +2 in most of the compounds. Some time they also show the oxidation state of +1 as on BaCl. CaI, SrBr etc, the second oxidation state is more stable due to the fact that both lattice energy and hydration energy values are high for M2+ ion. Flame coloration these elements except Be and Mg give flame coloration, Ca (brick red), Sr (crimson), Ba (green), Ra (crimson) Reducing nature the alkaline earth metals have a tendency to lose electrons and for M2+ ions (M M2+) and hence they are strong reducing agents, the value of the oxidation potential increases from Be to Ra. Actions of acids: they react with acids and displaced hydrogen. Beryllium shows a different behavior and reacts with alkali to liberate hydrogen M + H2SO4 MSO4 + H2 M +2HCl MCl2 + H2 Reaction with hydrogen: They form metal hydride with hydrogen. M+ H2 MH2 Oxides and hydroxides these metals except Ba and Ra react with O2 to form oxides of type MO. 2M+O2 2MO Ba and Ra form peroxides of the type MO2. OTHER PROPERTEIS alkaline Earth Metals: The hydroxides of these elements are soluble in water and solubility of hydroxides increases with atomic number of the metals. They have high affinity for non metals like halogens. The halides are hygroscopic in nature and forms hydrate like CaCl2.6H2O, MgCl2.6H2O etc. Bicarbonates of alkali metals are soluble and formed only in solution. Carbonates are insoluble in water. Sulfates decompose on heating and give SO2 according to following reaction

2MSO4 2MO+ 2SO2 +O2 The nitrates of these metals decompose on heating and yield corresponding oxides and nitrates. 2M (NO3)2 2MO+4NO2+O2