[ELI5] Why alkaline metals explode when they touch water
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I’ve worked on this exact question for a school science project and the answer is actually more complicated than just the sodium reacting with the water (2 Na + 2 H2O -> 2 NaOH + H2) and the hydrogen lighting on fire (2 H2 + O2 -> 2 H2O). That would only produce an angry flame, not an explosion.
What actually happens is that the sodium yeets its electrons into the water and thus becomes positively charged. This static charge makes the lump tear itself apart into needle-like structures which have a much higher surface area, leading to a strongly increased reaction speed which culminates in an explosion. It’s called a Coulomb explosion after the guy who the unit for electric charge is named after.
See [this paper](https://cool-chemistry.ucoz.ua/Articles/P_E_Mason_et_al-Nat-Chem-2015-10.1038-NCHEM.2161.pdf) for a more scientific explanation and cool pictures.
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