Today most potassium minerals come from Canada, USA and Chile. The main mining area used to be Germany, which had a monopoly of potassium before the first World War. Minerals mined for their potassium are pinkish and sylvite, carnallite and alunite. Potassium is leached from these by weathering, which explains why there is quite a lot of this element in the sea (0.75 g/liter). Most potassium occurs in the Earth's crust as minerals, such as feldspars and clays. In all cases it is the negative anion, not the potassium, which is the key to their use. Other potassium salts are used in baking, photography and tanning leather, and to make iodize salts. A little potassium chloride goes into pharmaceuticals, medical drips and saline injections. Potassium carbonate goes into glass manufacture, expecially the glass used to make televisions, while potassium hydroxide is used to make liquid soaps and detergents. Most potassium (95 %) goes into fertilizers and the rest goes mainly into making potassium hydroxide (KOH), by the electrolysis of potassium chloride solution, and then converting this to potassium carbonate (K 2CO 3). The chemistry of potassium is almost etirely that of the potassium ion, K +. It is light enough to float into water with which it reacts instantly to release hydrogen, which burns with a lilac flame. Potassium is silvery when first cut but it oxidizes rapidly in air and tarnishes within minutes, so it is generally stored under oil or grease. Potassium is a soft, silvery-white metal, member of the alkali group of the periodic chart. The chemical symbol K comes from kalium, the Mediaeval Latin for potash, which may have derived from the arabic word qali, meaning alkali. The name is derived from the english word potash. Potassium - K Chemical properties of potassium - Health effects of potassium - Environmental effects of potassium Separation and Concentration Purification Request.Plant Inspection & Process Optimalisation.
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