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Kaboom ! Pure K is a highly reactive alloy . Exposed to piddle , it burst forth with a purple flame , so it ’s usually stored under mineral crude oil for safety .
Because it ’s so responsive , K is n’t feel complimentary in nature , according to the Jefferson National Linear Accelerator Laboratory . However , minerals and compound containing potassium are common : It ’s the 7th - most abundant ingredient in Earth ’s crust .
A large sample of potash, a source of potassium.
Naturally occurring potassium salts such as saltpeter and potash have been used for centuries , but no one isolated potassium until 1807 , when Cornish pill roller Humphry Davy had the notion to scarper an electric current through some blotto potash ( potassium carbonate ) . The current broke the adhesiveness hold up the chemical compound together . Davy would later repeat the whoremaster for discover sodium , accord to the Chemical Heritage Foundation .
It was Davy , harmonise to the Royal Society of Chemistry , who first noted potassium ’s explosive purple reaction to water supply , seen here . The conflagration occurs because the combination of K and water system produce K hydrated oxide ( KOH ) and hydrogen gas , as well as high temperature . The heat light the H throttle , and the whole shebang conk gravy .
Just the facts
agree to the Jefferson National Linear Accelerator Laboratory , the properties of silver grey are :
Common, and sometimes deadly
About 2.4 percent of the mass of Earth ’s impudence is potassium , admit billions of net ton of K chloride , agree to the Royal Society of Chemistry . It ’s not surprising that humanity have made habit of this resourcefulness . Saltpeter ( potassium nitrate ) was used to preserve intellectual nourishment in the Middle Ages and is part of gunpowder , which was invented in 9th - centuryChina . Potassium alum ( KAI(SO4)2 ) might show up in your deodourant ( it inhibit bacterial increase ) or in textile and leather production . Potash , a generic terminal figure for any salt contain piss - soluble potassium , is a major constituent in fertilizers .
The intelligence " caustic potash " comes from " raft ash tree , " hearken back to the original method of product of these salts . plant life are rich in potassium , so the great unwashed would collect wood ash and leech out the potassium salt for use of goods and services in fertilizer . In the modern day , potash is mined , with 35 million metric tons pull from the Earth each year , according to the RSC .
atomic number 19 is also a necessary nutrient for spirit ; as an electrolyte , it conducts electric signals in the body ; along with sodium , it ’s crucial for proper muscle compression . The drug potassium chloride is usually used to treat potassium deficiency , but the dose makes the poison : atomic number 19 chloride has also been used in lethal injections . In large enough quantity , the drug stops the heart by disrupting the electrical signal that push the musculus to contract and relax , according to a 2012 example reportin the journal Case Reports in Emergency Medicine .
Who knew?
Current research
Potassium , along with its married person in crime , atomic number 11 , is all important for maintaining line of descent press , among its others activities in the body . As such , the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that adult eat 4.7 g of potassium a daylight , while the World Health Organization calls for a slightly lower uptake of 3.5 grams .
atomic number 19 does n’t get as much attention as Na in the democratic imperativeness , but it ’s passing significant , said Sylvia Wassertheil - Smoller , a professor emerita of epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York . In September 2014 , Wassertheil - Smoller and her confrere regain that a diet gamey in potassium was linked to few strokes in postmenopausal women . Overall , womanhood who ate the most potassium in their diet were 12 percent less likely to have a stroke during the 11 - twelvemonth study point .
Notably , Wassertheil - Smoller say Live Science , K ’s protective effect " go beyond origin pressure . " Women who did not have high blood pressure got a bigger health welfare from potassium than woman with high blood pressure , the researchers reported in the journal Stroke . Among woman with normal blood pressure , those who ate the most K were 21 per centum less likely to have a stroke than those who exhaust the least .
" Potassium is affect in the health of cellular phone and of blood vas , " Wassertheil - Smoller said . " We ’re not exactly sure of the mechanism , but there is something about K intake that does lower stroking risk . "
Potassium is in a lot of solid food , Wassertheil - Smoller said , most famouslybananas . It ’s also inpotatoes , leafy greens , salmon , apricots , squeeze , tomato paste and Milk River . But chance are you are n’t reaching the commend consumption of this food .
A field released in the journalBMJ Openin 2015 chance that only about 20 percentage of Americans encounter the WHO goals for atomic number 19 ingestion . Other countries did n’t do much unspoilt : Only about 5 percent of Mexicans , 23 percent of hoi polloi in France and 8 percent of Brits managed to eat enough K .
The data reassert that people do n’t get enough potassium for optimal health , said field researcher Adam Drewnowski , an epidemiologist at the University of Washington . On the other hand , the low pace of complaisance with the recommendations suggests that the goals are unfeasible , Drewnowski said in a statement .
" The chance that a majority of a population would achieve these goal is near zero , " he said .
Likewise , among the senior women in Wassertheil - Smoller ’s study , only 2.8 percent gather the USDA goals for K , and only 16.6 percent reach the WHO goals .
Part of the problem , according to Drewnowski , is that Na and potassium are comingled in many foods , so attempts to trim sodium intake often thin K , too — only about 0.3 percent of Americans manage to encounter both the Na and atomic number 19 guidelines set by the WHO . ( Scientists currently debate how much Na intake affects blood atmospheric pressure and marrow health , or whether the sodium - potassium ratio is more authoritative ) .
Public health officials need to work to get the word out about potassium , Wassertheil - Smoller said . A dieting high in crude foods , yield and vegetables is typically a diet high in atomic number 19 , she said .
" The takeaway subject matter is ante up attention to which foods are rich in potassium , and eat them , " she said .
extra imagination
