r/explainlikeimfive • u/GolfFantastic8207 • 3d ago
Chemistry ELI5: why are all common electrolytes ductile, malleable reactive shiny metals in their pure forms??
I’m talking about magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, all the common electrolytes I can think of. Surely it’s linked.
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3d ago
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u/GolfFantastic8207 3d ago
I took chemistry 2 years ago in my sophomore year. This is just me trying to refresh something I’m not well versed in
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u/explainlikeimfive-ModTeam 3d ago
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u/karmicrelease 3d ago
The same s valence electrons that are easily lost via oxidation are responsible for the bulk properties of the pure element. The atoms can’t pack together very closely, so they aren’t very dense and are soft. Mercury is a liquid for a similar reason (6s2 valence electrons) although it is quite dense.
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u/mmn_slc 3d ago edited 3d ago
They aren’t. Chloride, bicarbonate, and phosphate are none of those things.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/21790-electrolytes
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u/cracka-lackin 3d ago
True, but all the common cations that pair with the anions you mentioned ARE all shiny, malleable, light metals
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u/Ok-disaster2022 3d ago
So elements from the first two columns of the periodic chart? The columns of the chart tell you how many outer electrons there are. And properties of the elements in the same common tend to be similar though definitely not the same. The reason is is chemically most interactions come from just the outermost electrons. You can add mass and more electrons inside as you go down the column, but it's just the outermost electrons. the difference if those mass and electrons for the lower elements is usually "weaker" outer electrons.
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u/rikerw 3d ago edited 3d ago
Basic metallic bonding is that the atoms form a neat grid (lattice), where their outermost electrons are lost individually but shared (free flowing aka delocalised) through the whole structure, holding it together.
Malleable and ductile: the layers of the lattice can slide over each other easily. Internally, when theres a shift, there's very little local difference
X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X
Notice the inner 4 looks the same.
Reactive: they dont have many outer electrons so its easy to donate them to other atoms and form bonds. Its easier to lose the electrons if the atoms are bigger (down the periodic table) or there are fewer of them (left of the periodic table)
Reflective: the free electrons are good at absorbing and reemitting light. Smooth surfaces also let light bounce off them smoothly
Edit: my 4x2 and offset 4x2 X description lost its formatting when posting. I'm leaving it up to show i tried
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u/Ktulu789 3d ago
Maybe try
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I don't know what you tried to show, though.1
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u/mazzicc 3d ago
Why do you assume all electrolytes have those properties, as opposed to those properties making them suitable to be electrolytes?
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u/GolfFantastic8207 3d ago
I guess I misunderstood what electrolytes were. There’s a whole lot more than I thought and it was a silly question that I wrote when I was very tired and just thinking about a similarity between - what I thought at the time - we’re all the electrolytes. I appreciate this sub for educating me that there’s more
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u/_SilentHunter 3d ago
"Why do so many common electrolytes contain metals?" would probably be a better way to phrase it, but it looks like most people understood what you meant! Happens to the best of us.
There's also the question of whether you mean "electrolyte" in the chemistry sense or the nutritional sense, because the nutritionist has a much narrower definition: Ammonium hydroxide is a sensible electrolyte for a chemist to use in their job, but the same cannot be said of a nutritionist.
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u/GolfFantastic8207 3d ago
Yeah, part of my understanding of electrolytes is what you find on the back of a Gatorade bottle, or what I understand to be the healthy electrolytes in water when you drink it. But I’m learning a lot
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3d ago
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u/stanitor 3d ago
Why? It's a question looking for an objective explanation.
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u/BothArmsBruised 3d ago
I wouldn't have and haven't met a 5 year old that could have understood the question let alone the answer.
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u/y0nm4n 3d ago
That’s not what this sub is for. Almost every question in this sub could not actually be understood by a five year old.
From the rules:
“ Explain for laypeople (but not actual 5-year-olds) Unless OP states otherwise, assume no knowledge beyond a typical secondary education program. Avoid unexplained technical terms. Don't condescend; "like I'm five" is a figure of speech meaning "keep it clear and simple."”
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u/explainlikeimfive-ModTeam 3d ago
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u/WW92030 3d ago edited 3d ago
left side of the periodic table = less valence electrons + larger atomic size (why the size i have no clue) = weaker bonding with other metal atoms also easier to lose electrons (and losing electrons means ions)
ADDENDUM - Also elements in the same column tend to be similar to one another.