Potassium Potassium Potassium is a chemical element with symbol K (from Neo-Latin "kalium") and atomic number 19. It was first isolated from potash, the ashes of plants, from which its name derives. In the periodic table, potassium is one of the alkali metals. All of the alkali metals have a single valence electron in the outer electron shell, which is easily removed to create an ion with a positive charge – a cation, which combines with anions to form salts. Potassium in nature occurs only in ionic salts. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air
Potassium amyl xanthate Potassium amyl xanthate Potassium amyl xanthate is an organosulfur compound with the chemical formula CH(CH)OCSK. It is a pale yellow powder or pellet with a pungent odor, soluble in water. It is widely used in the mining industry for the separation of ores using the flotation process. Potassium amyl xanthate is prepared by reacting amyl alcohol with carbon disulfide and potassium hydroxide. Potassium amyl xanthate is a pale yellow powder that is relatively stable between pH 8 and 13 with a maximum of stability at pH 10. The is 480 mg/kg (oral, rats) for potassium pentylxanthate. It is a biodegradable