Interesting Facts About Potassium

Sir Humphrey Davy discovered Potassium in 1807, extracting the metal along with sodium. Potassium is an element included in Group 1 of the Periodic table; its letter is K (kalium, from the Arabic for "plant ashes"). Potassium makes up 1.5 percent of the weight of the Earth's crust. The number of neutrons in Potassium is 20, and the number of protons is 19. Its color is silver-white. Potassium is an alkali metal.

Function

• Potassium is used in the making of gunpowder, glass, soap, table-salt substitute and fertilizer. Old-fashioned lye was made by dripping rainwater through wood ashes (or potash, or potassium). The resulting liquid was pure lye, with which pioneers made soap--usually once a year, as a village effort in which everyone rendered the fat scraps they'd been saving, mixing them with lye to make enough soap to last the entire year.

Benefits

• Dietary sources of Potassium include tomatoes, beans, potatoes, apricots, avocados, orange juice, milk, bananas and watermelon. Potassium is an essential mineral for preventing stroke, lowering blood pressure, controlling brain function, stabilizing heartbeat and balancing fluid retention. When taking diuretics, consume more potassium-rich foods, as diuretics deplete the body's potassium supply.

Effects

• Potassium (potassium chloride) may be used as a substitute for table salt (sodium chloride) by those who must reduce their daily sodium intake on the advice of a physician. Too much salt may cause high blood pressure; thus, potassium chloride is relatively harmless to the body when taken in small quantities instead of salt.

Geography

• Potassium or potash is mined throughout the world, including Germany, New Mexico, Utah, California and Saskatchewan. A large potassium mine exists in Saskatchewan 3,000 feet below the surface; it has been actively mining for 48 years, and there is still plenty left to mine. The mine is called The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

Expert Insight

• Potassium nitrate KNO3, better known as saltpeter, is the ingredient present in cigarette wrappings that keeps the cigarette burning. Saltpeter is found in bat guano and is present in gunpowder as an oxidant. Potassium chromate (K2CrO4) is used in fireworks, flypaper and safety matches. Potassium sodium tartrate (KNaC4H4O6) is used as the silvering that is painted onto the back of mirrors in order to see one's reflection.