Skip to main content
potassium

potassium

67 3.9
A soft metal that reacts strongly with water and helps body functions
  • noun
  • /pəˈtæsiəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : potasio
  • Try to eat a banana or a potato skin to keep your potassium up.
  • potassium ions
  • sodium and potassium
  • potassium levels

Now, what happens to potassium nitrate when you heat it up?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • All those three have good potassium contents and very low carbohydrates.

  • Bananas are a good source of potassium... and I'd double coupons for the fish.

  • And so if it is open, it allows potassium to pass through.

  • When the sodium channels close, the potassium channels again take over.

  • So we can see that there's a lot of potassium in the cells.

  • People sometimes need extra electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium when they get started on the diet.

  • And his potassium is now normal (he has received potassium replacement in the IV fluids).

    Fiction book (1994)
  • I had to consume large doses of foul-tasting liquid potassium supplements daily.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Bone broth is loaded with sodium and potassium and other compounds that act similar to magnesium.

  • Fruits and vegetables often are high in potassium, which can help control blood pressure.

Synonyms

K
vspotassium
  • Specialized
2 3.9

The symbol for the element potassium

is the full element name used generally rather than the one-letter label

Compounds

potassium chloride
  • Specialized
5 4.3

A white salt that gives potassium to the body and is used in industry

potassium nitrate
  • Specialized
2 4.7

A white salt used to help plants grow, make explosives, and preserve food

potassium iodide
  • Specialized
1 4.7

A white salt used in medicine, photography, and to add iodine to table salt

potassium chlorate
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A white salt used in fireworks, matches, explosives, and for bleaching

1 7.0

A method for finding how old rocks are by measuring potassium and argon

potassium cyanide
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A very poisonous white chemical used to get gold and to coat metal in factories

potassium hydroxide
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A strong white chemical that people use in industry and farming to clean and make soil less acidic

diclofenac potassium
  • Specialized
4.0

A medicine that reduces pain and swelling, often used for headaches and muscle pain

9.9

A poisonous colorless salt used to fix colors in dyeing and formerly to make people vomit

4.9

A medicine with potassium used to treat infections caused by bacteria

7.1

A salt that makes cakes rise in baking powder and calms stomach acid

potassium dichromate
  • Specialized
6.6

A bright orange red crystal used to make dyes, for photography, and to help chemical reactions, and is toxic

9.9

A yellow chemical in small crystals that contains cyanide and is used in industry and gardening

A white salt used in baking and to reduce stomach acid

5.1

A white powder used in baking to make cakes rise and keep egg whites stable

potassium alum
  • Specialized
6.5

A white crystal people use to clean water, help dye cloth, and make skin less oily

potassium bicarbonate
  • Specialized
5.6

A white powder that makes baked goods rise and reduces stomach acid

potassium bitartrate
  • Specialized
5.2

A white powder that helps egg whites keep their shape and improves texture of baked goods

potassium bromide
  • Specialized
7.7

A white salt once used to calm people and in old photography

potassium carbonate
  • Specialized
5.1

A white powder that dissolves in water and is used to make glass, soap, and cleaners

6.3

A white salt used to give plants and people the mineral potassium

9.0

A dark purple chemical that can kill germs and is poisonous

6.5

A white powder used to help with mild constipation in some medicines

Surface Forms

potassium singular
potassiums plural

Morphology

potassium = potash (semi-transparent) = potass + ium

Formed from 'potash' + the metal-forming suffix '-ium'; the etymological link is clear but the chemical naming and spelling shift make the relation only partially obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Potassium comes from potash, the name for the 'ash' left in a pot when people burned plants, because early chemists made salts from these ashes and found a new metal. So, the name links the element to those old 'pot ash' salts and to its role in plants and foods like bananas.