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Potassium
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Sources: Potassium is the 7th most abundant element on earth, making up 2.4% of the earth's crust, by weight. Potassium is not found free in nature. Potassium was the first metal isolated by electrolysis (Davy, 1807, from caustic potash KOH). Thermal methods (reduction of potassium compounds with C, Si, Na, CaC2) are ... used to produce potassium. Sylvite, langbeinite, carnallite, and polyhalite form extensive deposits in ancient lake and sea beds, from which potassium salts can be obtained. In addition to other locations, potash is mined in Germany, Utah, California, and New Mexico.
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Potassium is an element in the periodic table. It has the symbol K (Latin for kalium). The name "potassium" comes from the word "potash", as potassium was first isolated from potash. Potassium is a soft silvery-white metallic alkali metal that occurs naturally bound to other elements in seawater and many minerals. With the exception of calcium and phosphorus, no other mineral is as abundant in the human body as potassium. Almost 98% of potassium is found inside the cells.
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Potassium deficiency can cause problems with the formation of connective tissue, and can render normally strong body tissue vulnerable to all kinds of problems. The collagen of a healthy person is approximately as strong as steel, and the strength of bone tissue can be likened to that of cast iron. Lack of potassium may create a susceptibility to fractures, skin lesions that do not heal, or other connective tissue problems. So important is potassium for the protection of collagen that many natural health gurus claim that along with other vital nutrients, it constitutes an essential element of protection against premature aging. As long ago as the 1920s, Max Gerson was the first person ever to cure lupus lesions with a diet designed to reduce abnormally high sodium levels and raise potassium levels to normal, which was entirely raw fruit and vegetables.
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Potassium deficiency symptoms on cereal grains appear as a burning or scorching of the lower leaves. The burning begins at the tip of the leaf and continues down the leaf margin. Lower leaves are affected first because potassium in the plant is transported to the new upper leaves. Potassium deficiency in alfalfa appears as white or yellow spots on the lower leaves. Many other factors can affect the appearance of lower leaves, so diagnosis based on deficiency symptoms is risky.
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Potassium was discovered and named in 1807 by the British chemist Sir Humphry Davy. The element’s name comes from potash, a potassium compound originally obtained by soaking wood ash in a pot of water and allowing the water to evaporate. The metal is silvery white and can be cut with a knife. It has a hardness of 0.5. Potassium exists in three natural isotopic forms, with mass numbers 39, 40, and 41. Potassium-40 is radioactive and has a half-life of 1.26 billion years.
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Potassium is so active that it never occurs free in nature. It always occurs in compounds, combined with other elements. It was first prepared in pure form in 1807 by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829). Davy used a new method of isolating elements that he had invented, electrolysis. In electrolysis, an electric current is passed through a molten (melted) compound. The electrical current breaks the compound into its elements.
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Potassium