Francium + Water

[lovejoy0120]

If you put a gram or two of francium into a cold bath tub of water how big would the reaction be ?

Thanks

[theprof]

To start with, no weighable quantity of Francium has ever been isolated or prepared. Therefore obtaining a gram or two is not possible. No more than about 400 grammes exists on earth at any one time. The element is also radioactive.

"Brainiac" on Sky 1 encountered the same problem when they cast some samples of the alkali metals into a bath of water. Try this link if you haven't seen it yourself:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-21342 66654801392897

Francium is the most reactive of the alkali metals. Don't be misled - undoubtedly, Brainiac failed to secure any because it's never been prepared in quantity and not because "they" wouldn't let them have any! All the same, I think there's a limit to what the HSE would allow.

Without being biased by the video, and extrapolating the known reactions of the other five alkali metals, I'd say that if you could obtain Francium, you'd better write your will and advise about a dozen houses either side of you that they could sustain some damage. Don't forget to turn off the gas, water and electricity before you begin. Finally, don't forget to let us know what the earth looks like from the moon.

[funnymunn]

I wouldnt do it. its probably so reactive it would blow your face off and give you cancer all at the same time

[lovejoy0120]

true,true funnymunn well put you'd look the same as someone if they stood right next to a nuclear reactor and then proceeded to blow it up (Chernobyl,1989) - except they'd expose themselves to Uranium and Caesium 147 as well.
Why is Francium so scarce if you can get it from decaying uranium ? Why not let uranium decay and get it instead ? Would francium have more energy per KG than Uranium?
Could we use Francium in Selllafield ?

[science-tilz]

you probably would never get it in the bath tub francium is so reactive it reacts with the water vapor in the air. and how big would the explosion ....very!! big.....and atom bom might be exadurating

[Passanger99]

In the Uranium-235 decay series, it will eventually decay into francium. The Uranium will take about 700,033,022 years and 26 hours for it to decay into Francium. Only small fraction of the initial mass of Uranium will become Francium because each step in the decay series is a half-life reaction. Also. Francium will decay into smaller nuclei in about 22 minutes.
Assuming you are talking about the energy released from the Fracium reacting with water. It will not produce more energy than Uranium. In chemistry, nuclear reactions release incredible amounts of energy compared to chemical reactions.

[frustumator]

If, hypothetically, one were to obtain a gram or two of francium and react it with water, the reaction would probably be very quick, as it indeed is the most reactive alkali metal. However, the blast would not be as large as Brainiac would make it seem. The true "bang" of alkali metal/water reactions doesn't come directly from the metal, but from the ignition of the hydrogen gas that is generated as the metal is oxidized. The reaction that takes place is:

2M + 2H2O => 2MOH + H2

where M is whichever alkali metal you happen to be using. This leads to some interesting conclusions. Since the mass of each atom increases down the alkali group, the number of individual atoms of a metal per gram decreases as you move toward francium. This means that a gram of, say, sodium, will contain more atoms than a gram of francium, meaning that a gram of sodium will actually generate MORE hydrogen gas than a gram of francium.

This website does a wonderful job of explaining alkali metal reactions:
http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Alka liBangs/index.html

I hope this helps! :)

[314159]

Braniac showed the result of dropping the alkali metals into a bathtub, with the intensity of the reaction increasing down the periodic table. Sadly, the footage was later revealed to have been faked by people working on the programme. They found that the later elements did not actually produce the massive and spectacular explosions they were looking for, so replaced them with a large pyrotechnic charge, and represented it as being the heavier alkali metals.

It seems the heavier alkali metals do not continue to produce more massive explosions, presumably as a consequence of several factors offsetting the increased reactivity. Particularly the increased molar mass would mean less material per unit mass available for reaction.

The likely result of a hypothetical gram of francium in a bathtub would be similar to the earlier alkali metals, with the unfortunate side effect of showering the area with radioactive material, francium itself being radioactive.