3 Lithium - Li

A sample of lithium oxide from a lithium-ion battery

Lithium is the third element from the periodic table.
Has a silvery-white color and it is a alkali metal.
It is the lightest metal and will float on water.
It is very reactive and flammable and must be stored in mineral oil.
It will react quickly with air, more precisely, with the nitrogen gas, tarnishing and making it from a metal look to a gray-black.
In the reaciton of lithium and water, hydrogen will be release.
Hidrogen is very flammable and a fire will be very hard to stop.
Lithium, helium and hydrogen are the only three elements produced during the Bing Bang.

Occurrence:
It never occurs freely in nature, only in compounds and ionic ones such as pegmatitic minerals.
It is present in ocean water and commonly obtained from brines.
Biologically it is found in many plants, plankton and invertebrates, marine organisms tend to have more lithium than the terrestrial organisms.
Minerals: Granitic pegmatites, spodumene, petalite, lepidolite, hectorite clay

!! Danger
Lithium is corrosive and skin contact must be avoid. Breathing lithium dust and compounds can irritate the nose and throat and can cause buildup of fluids in the lungs leading to pulmonary edema.
Lithium is very flammable.
The thin sheet of lithium from a lithium-ion battery will react with water and can ignite and explode.

Where to find it:
Lithium can be found in lithium-ion batteries, but extra care must be taken because of the danger of opening such a battery; lithium it is found as anode with a gray color that tarnishes fast when exposed to air.
Lithium carbonate pills, used for bipolar disorder; has a purity of 13,6% lithium.

Minerals: Kunzite, Lepidolite, Petalite

Properties:
Atomic number 3; Atomic weight 6,94
Solid at 20 degree Celsius
Melting point of 180 Celsius or 356 F
Boiling point at 1330 C or 2426 F
Density of 0,534 g/cm cube; when liquid has 0,512 g/cm cube
Crystal structure: body-centered cubic
Speed of sound in a thin rod at 20 C: 6000 m/s
Magnetism: paramagnetic
Color: silver
Electrical type: Conductor
Hardness: 0,5-0,6 Mohs, along with sodium and potassium, can be scratched by talk
Abundance: 0,0017% in earth crust; 0,000018% in oceans; 0,00017% in meteorites

Isotopes:
Lithium 6, abundance 7,59%, stable
Lithium 7, abundance 92,41%, stable
Lithium 6 can have as low as 1,9% in commercial samples, therefore lithium 7 may have up to 98,1%
Li3, Li4, Li5, Li8, Li9, Li10, Li11, Li12

Use:
Lithium batteries and lithium-ion batteries.
In medicine it is used to treat bipolar disorder, lithium salts may also help schizoaffective disorder and major depression.
Ceramics and glass.
Metallurgy.
Silicon nano-welding.
Pirotechnics, as compounds in red fireworks and flares.
Lithium fluoride is an artificially grown crystal, clear and transparent, used in optics for IR, UV, and vacuum UV.
It was used in the past in nuclear fusion, as a neutron absorber. In nuclear devices including bombs.

Containment:
It must be contained in mineral oil.
Lithium is safely stored in non-reactive solutions such as naphtha.
Lithium can be stored in kerosene, but due to low density, it will float.
Can be isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.

Tests:
It will turn from silvery-metal color to gray-black in the air.
When burn, it will start with a red-orange-pink color and will turn into a yellow-white with a very bright light.
Molten lithium is more reactive than its solid form.
The low density of just 0,534 can be compared with pine wood.
When burned in the air, lithium will reach more than 2000 degree Celsius.
If burned on sand, it will react violently and will form a amorphous silicon.
If burned with sulf, lithium will react very violent almost like a firework and the temperatures will be very high.
The same sparks explosion will have when burned on wood, because it will react with the oxygen molecules from cellulose.