What is K?

About
95%
of the world’s
potassium is
used as
fertiliser and
is most commonly
called potash.
Potassium (K) is a soft
and light alkali metal
of a silver-white colour.
It is not present in nature in its pure state,
but in complex compounds it is present in
almost everything around us: in the soil,
in water, in the cells of all living organisms.
This vital element has no natural or artificial substitutes.

Potassium is one of the ten most
common elements on Earth: its concentration
in the Earth's crust is about 2.4%. Typically, the concentration of potassium is rather low, and it accumulates only in certain minerals
and rock salts, forming rocks.


There are more than ten minerals containing
potassium, but sylvinite and carnallite are
the two with the highest concentration.
There are more
than ten minerals
containing potassium,
but sylvinite and carnallite are the two with the highest concentration.
Sylvinite Sedimentary rock composed of a crystal-grained mixture of halite and sylvite (nNaCl + mKCl) and some impurities (anhydrite, carbonates, clay material, etc.)
Carnallite mineral, double salt of potassium chloride and magnesium chloride,
KCl•MgCl2•6H2O.
Oxide density
Atomic number
Relative atomic mass
Boiling point, °С
Melting point, °С