previous next

Po-tas′si-um.

Equivalent, 39.2; symbol, K (kalium); specific gravity, 0.865; fusing-point, 136° Fah. This metallic base of the alkali potassa was discovered by Sir Humphry Davy in 1807. It is a brilliant, silver-white metal, tarnishes immediately on exposure to the atmosphere; is soft at ordinary temperatures, brittle at 32° Fah. Its affinity for oxygen is so energetic that water is decomposed by contact, the liberated hydrogen being inflamed.

The salts of potash are very useful in the arts, as ingredients in glazes for pottery, fluxes in glass, in soap-making, washing, gunpowder, etc., etc.

Potato-assorter.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
Humphry Davy (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
1807 AD (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: