Potassium in 1809, Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert proposed the name "Kalium" for Davy's "potassium". In 1814, the Swedish chemist Berzelius advocated the name "kalium" for potassium, with the chemical symbol "K". The English and French speaking countries adopted Davy and Gay-Lussac/Thénard's name Potassium, while the Germanic countries adopted Gilbert/Klaproth's name Kalium. The "Gold Book" of the International Union of Physical and Applied Chemistry has designated the official chemical symbol as K. Potassium is the second least dense metal after lithium. It is a soft solid with a low melting point, and can be easily cut with a knife. Freshly cut potassium is
Potassium picrate the more sensitive anhydrous lead picrate detonated 10% of the time when struck by the same mass dropped from the height of 2cm. Potassium picrate Potassium picrate, or potassium 2,4,6-trinitrophenolate, is an organic chemical, a picrate of potassium. It is a reddish yellow or green crystalline material. It is a primary explosive. Anhydrous potassium picrate forms orthorhombic crystals. Potassium picrate was first prepared as impure in mid-17th century by Johann Rudolf Glauber by dissolving wood in nitric acid and neutralizing with potassium carbonate. It is commonly made by neutralizing picric acid by potassium carbonate. It was used since 1869. Its