Element 19 · Alkali Metal
Potassium
Highly reactive alkali metal — important as compounds (potassium chloride fertiliser) but never traded as metal.
Element Facts
SYMBOL
K
ATOMIC NO.
19
ATOMIC WEIGHT
39.10
CATEGORY
Alkali Metal
PERIOD
Period 4
GROUP
Group 1
The Basics
Potassium is element 19, a soft, silvery-white alkali metal even more reactive than sodium. It is the seventh most abundant element in the Earth's crust, primarily as potassium-bearing minerals (sylvite, langbeinite, kainite).
Background
Pure potassium has had limited direct historical use due to its reactivity. Its compounds — particularly potash (potassium carbonate) — have been essential agricultural fertilisers for centuries.
Industrial Uses
Potassium metal is used in heat transfer applications (sodium-potassium alloy NaK is liquid at room temperature) and in some chemical syntheses. By far the dominant use of potassium globally is as fertiliser compounds (potassium chloride, sulphate of potash).
Scrap Viability
Why QuickStop Metals doesn’t buy Potassium:
Like sodium, pure potassium reacts violently with water and ignites on exposure to air. There is no scrap market for potassium metal. The element appears in the world primarily as compounds in fertilisers and chemicals, not as recoverable metal.
What It's Worth
Potassium metal is a chemical commodity, not a scrap-traded item.