| Reactions of Beryllium |
 Reactions with water |
| Beryllium will not react with water (or steam) even if heated. |
| Reactions with air |
| The surface of beryllium metal is covered with a thin layer of oxide that helps protect the metal from attack by air. It does
not oxidize in air even at 600°C. Powdered beryllium metal does burn in air to give a mixture of white beryllium oxide, BeO,
and beryllium nitride, Be3N2.
|
2Be(s) + O2(g) 2BeO(s) |
| 3Be(s) + N2(g)2Be3N2(s) |
| Reactions with halogens |
| Beryllium metal reacts chlorine, Cl2, or bromine, Br2, to form the beryllium dihalides; beryllium(II) chloride, BeCl2, and beryllium(II) bromide, BeBr2, respectively.
|
| Be(s) + Cl2(g)BeCl2(s) |
| Be(s) + Br2(g)BeBr2(s) |
| Reactions with acids |
| The surface of beryllium metal is covered with a thin layer of oxide that helps protect the metal from attack by acids, but
powdered beryllium metal dissolves readily in dilute acids such as sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, or nitric acid to form
solutions containing the aquated Be(II) ion together with hydrogen gas, H2.
|
| Be(s) + H2SO4(aq)Be2+(aq) + SO42-(aq) + H2(g) |
| Reactions with bases |
| Beryllium metal dissolves readily in dilute aquesous base solutions such as sodium hydroxide, NaOH, to form Be(II) complexes
together with hydrogen gas, H2.
|
| |
Be(s)