Potassium tree leaves, adding water, heating, and evaporating the solution. When Humphry Davy first isolated the pure element using electrolysis in 1807, he named it "potassium", which he derived from the word potash. The symbol "K" stems from "kali", itself from the root word "alkali", which in turn comes from "" "al-qalyah" "plant ashes." In 1797, the German chemist Martin Klaproth discovered "potash" in the minerals leucite and lepidolite, and realized that "potash" was not a product of plant growth but actually contained a new element, which he proposed to call "kali". In 1807, Humphry Davy produced the element via electrolysis:
Potassium bicarbonate bicarbonate occurs between : It is manufactured by reversing the above: reaction of potassium carbonate with carbon dioxide and water: This compound is a source of carbon dioxide for leavening in baking, extinguishing fire in dry chemical fire extinguishers, acting as a reagent, and a strong buffering agent in medications. It is used as an additive in winemaking and as a base in foods and to regulate pH. Potassium bicarbonate is often found added to club soda to improve taste, to soften the effect of effervescence. Potassium bicarbonate is used as a fire suppression agent ("BC dry chemical") in some