Potassium

by Chris Woodford

Describes the characteristics, sources, and uses of the element potassium.

Library Binding

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Chris Woodford writes popular science and technology books for adults and children. He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University. His books include the bestselling "Cool Stuff" series for Dorling Kindersley, and he also writes the popular science education website Explain that Stuff.

Reviews

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice additional to our Historical Approach to Science class, with much attention being spent on having a greater understanding of the Periodic Table of Elements. The layout was done well with lovely photographs/images to accompany the text. Middle/High School Level.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Shut up an' eat yer goddamn banana!" is a common refrain in my house. This is because of potassium, which is found in hearty quantities in that disturbing, yellow fruit. Like all alkali metals, it's reactive as hell, making it one of the floozies or "easy-pieces" of the periodic table, throwing itself willy-nilly into the laps of other elements, shedding electrons like a two-bit whore staring at a checkbook.
For us, potassium is very good for your liver and for strewing shit over fields. For the universe, writ large, it makes nice fireworks and lethal injections. Potassium: killer nymphomaniac element = the best element?
On a side note, this series is awesome. Compare reading one of these books in these series about elements (written for middle-schoolers) to the corresponding "Wikkiepedio" page. The latter is incomprehensible, full of blue words that lead to more incomprehensible pages. Books: your friends and mine.