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[[File:K.png|200px|thumb|Figure 1. Potassium, with [[atomic number]] 19 and [[atomic weight]] of 39.098.<ref>Made internally by a member of the Energy Education team, with information from periodictable.com, Available: http://periodictable.com/Elements/001/index.html</ref>]]
<onlyinclude>'''Potassium''' is the 19th [[element]] on the [[periodic table of elements]], and is the seventh most abundant element in the Earth's crust.</onlyinclude><ref name=info>Royal Society of Chemistry Periodic Table, ''Potassium'' [Online], Available: http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/19/potassium</ref> Some of its properties are listed below:<ref name=info/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''[[Atomic weight]]''' || 39.098
|-
| '''[[Density]]''' (at 0oC) || .089 [[gram|g]]/cm3
|-
| '''[[Boiling point]]''' || 1032 [[Kelvin|K]]
|-
| '''[[Melting point]]''' || 336.7 K
|}

Potassium is an alkali metal. It makes up 2.4% of the Earth's mass. Potassium can be found naturally as mineral (usually igneous) and salt compounds.<ref name=info/> Despite being a silver coloured mineral in its native form, potassium burns a unique lilac colour when ignited (Figure 2).

Potassium is important for humans and animals as it helps to maintain proper fluid and electrolyte levels in the body.<ref name=info/> Potassium deficiency can lead to muscle cramps.

==Potassium Uses==
[[File:Potassium water.jpg|thumb|Figure 2. Ignited potassium burning lilac.<ref>MWikiMedia Commons,"Potassium water 20,theora.gov". Accessed on Oct.7, 2018. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Potassium_water_20.theora.ogv</ref>]]

Historically, potassium salts (primarily saltpetre, alum, and potash) were used for a variety of products and activities. Some examples include gun powder and dyeing processes.Records of potassium salt use can be traced back to ancient Rome.<ref name=info/>

In modern times, the biggest use of potassium is for fertiliser.<ref name=info/> Many popular [[Agricultural energy use|agricultural plants]] need potassium to grow. As the plants grow, they deplete the [[soil]] of potassium. The potassium then needs to be replenished before more plants will properly grow and this can be done through fertilising. Potassium has many uses not related to fertiliser though.<ref name = NBB>John Emsley, "Nature’s Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements", Oxford University Press, New York, 2nd Edition, 2011.</ref> Since potassium is highly reactive and forms a wide variety of compounds, it can be used to form an equally wide variety of products. Potassium is used as food additive, particularly in the form of baking powder and as a food preservative. It used a range of chemical capacities, both in labs and for industrial uses.<ref name = NBB/>

==Isotopes==
Potassium has three [[isotope]]s found in nature:<ref name=info/>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Symbol!!Natural Abundance
|-
| 39K || 93.26%
|-
| 40K || 0.01%
|-
| 41K || 6.73%
|}

==Video==
The video below is from the University of Nottingham's [http://www.periodicvideos.com/ periodic videos project].<ref>See more videos from the University of Nottingham on different elements here: http://www.periodicvideos.com/</ref> They have created a complete suite of short videos on every element on the [[periodic table of elements]].

<html>
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pPdevJTGAYY" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</html>

==For Further Reading==
*[[Periodic table of elements]]
*[[Metal]]
*[[Greenhouse effect]]
*[[Pollution]]
*Or explore a [[Special:Random|random page]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

Potassium - Revision history

Jmdonev: 1 revision imported

2dev>Jmdonev at 21:11, 15 November 2018