eli5: why does potassium react so violently with water but is harmless to us in let’s say a banana ?
In: 7
“Reacting violently” is something that a *molecule* does, not an *element*. Chemical reactions happen between molecules; and a different bunch of molecules containing the same element won’t usually behave the same.
Potassium metal reacts violently with water. But potassium chloride doesn’t. Potassium chloride is the *product* of reacting potassium metal with something containing chlorine. That reaction itself may be violent, but the resulting potassium chloride is a lot more passive.
(In fact, the word “passivating” is sometimes used for treating a metal to make it less reactive — usually something like steel, to make it less affected by corrosion.)
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