Chemical Properties of Lithium

Although less reactive than potassium and sodium, lithium is analogous in chemical character to those metals. At ordinary temperature it is unaffected by dry oxygen or air, but the presence of moisture causes oxidation. At 200° C. it ignites in air or oxygen, burning with a bright white light, and forming the monoxide and a small proportion of the peroxide. In nitrogen it is converted without application of heat into the nitride, so that this substance is probably a product of its combustion in air. Its affinity for nitrogen has been applied in the isolation of argon from the atmosphere. This reaction exemplifies the similarity between lithium and calcium, a resemblance also manifested in the direct combination of lithium with chlorine, bromine, iodine, and sulphur-vapour. When heated in hydrogen, lithium yields a hydride. In its compounds the metal invariably exhibits univalency.

Experiments on photographic plates with lithium and its salts produced no effect, indicating a lack of radioactivity.