| Soluble silicates can be obtained by heating alkali metal carbonates and silica. |
| You need an alkali metal, which has one electron in the outer shell, to make the process work. |
| Sodium is an alkali metal and tends to lose an electron to form the positive sodium ion. |
| He isolated potassium, another well known alkali metal, from potassium hydroxide in the same year. |
| While not as reactive as the alkali metals, this family knows how to make bonds very easily. |
| Since they have two electrons that they must lose, they are not quite as reactive as the alkali metals. |
