alkali metal

noun

: any of the monovalent mostly basic metals of group I of the periodic table comprising lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium see Periodic Table

Examples of alkali metal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As Spectrum reported in 2017, Goodenough and Maria Helena Braga, professor of engineering at the University of Porto in Portugal, developed a solid-state lithium rechargeable that used a glass doped with alkali metals as the battery’s electrolyte. —IEEE Spectrum, 24 Feb. 2020

From there, alkali heat pipes passively conduct the heat away using phase changes in the alkali metal to cool the reactor and convert the heat into electricity. —David Szondy, New Atlas, 26 Sep. 2024

These are all side effects the late Jacob Waugh, MD, was looking to avoid when alkali metals first caught his attention in 2016. —Maura Lynch, Allure, 21 Sep. 2023

Lithium is an alkali metal that can be found naturally in some food and ground water. —Jen Christensen, CNN, 3 Apr. 2023

This one just happens to count the nine-billion-odd times an alkali metal is excited and calls that a second. —Tom Vanderbilt, Harper’s Magazine , 13 Mar. 2023

The recent announcement by India’s Geological Survey of India (GSI) on its preliminary exploration of lithium reserves has excited many industries dependent on the scarce alkali metal. —Manish Kumar, Quartz, 20 Feb. 2023

In the paper, scientists characterize the meteorites’ material phases as alloys of lead, tin and indium, which is the softest non-alkali metal. —Fox News, 24 Mar. 2020

The first group, known as the alkali metals, has just one such electron, easy to lose when reacting with an element that has more electrons, such as one from the 17th group, the halogens. —Bill Andrews, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for alkali metal

• betel
• cetyl
• kettle
• mettle
• nettle
• petal
• setal
• settle
• diacetyl
• gunmetal
• nonmetal
• resettle

Kids Definition

alkali metal

noun

: any of the metals in the group that consists of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium

Medical Definition

alkali metal

noun

: any of the univalent mostly basic metals of group I of the periodic table comprising lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium