Potassium Potassium is a vital element in the human body. Potassium had never been distinguished between sodium until the eighteenth century. Before potassium was recognized as an element, potassium carbonate was mixed with animal fat to make soap. It was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy in England, in 1807. Sir Davy was able to isolate potassium using electrolysis. Potassium was the first metal isolated by this procedure. Today, it is still not found free in nature. It is obtained by electrolysis of chloride or hydroxide. Potassium is a solid silvery white element. It is soft and can be cut with a knife. Potassium is the least dense known metal, besides lithium. It is the seventh most abundant element. It makes up about 1.5% by weight of the earth's crust. It decomposes in water because of the hydrogen. It usually catches fire during reaction with water. Potassium is an essential component for plant growth. Potassium is absorbed by plants in larger amounts than most other mineral elements. Potassium is supplied to plants by soil minerals, organic materials, and inorganic fertilizer. Potassium is not found in organic combination with plant tissues. Potassium plays an essential role in the metabolic processes of plants. Potassium also is essential in carbohydrate metabolism, a process by which energy is obtained from sugar. Potassium is one of the most important elements in human diet. To begin with, potassium works with sodium for various reasons. For example, it helps to regulate body waste, control heart rhythms, and assist in reducing high blood pressure. It also aids in clear thinking by sending oxygen to the brain. This element is crucial to the maintenance of the nervous system and the muscular system. Potassium is an electrolyte, and therefor regulates the balance of fluids inside and outside the cells, including blood. The human body needs potassium to function. The body may become short of potassium in many situations. Excessive physical activity, severe cases of stress, drinking of alcohol or coffee all consume the potassium in the body leaving the person with a deficiency of the mineral. As a result of this deficiency severe fatigues, muscle weakness, nervous disorders, cardiac arrest, and poor reflexes can occur. Too much potassium in the body may result in dehydration. The kidneys can retain or get rid of too much potassium. Either extreme is dangerous for the body. If potassium is such a vital nutrient to the human body it has to be a mineral that can be found in a regular diet.
Together extra-renal factors (insulin, epinephrine, aldosterone) and renal factors maintain a normal potassium plasma concentration in the body. The extra-renal mechanisms are responsible for moving potassium into the intracellular compartment. The renal mechanisms are responsible for chronic maintenance of body potassium content. When these mechanisms are functioning correctly, large intake of potassium has a minor and insignificant effect on the potassium concentration in the plasma. [5&6]
The periodic table contains many different kinds of elements which are placed accordingly on the table. Potassium is in the alkali metals which is placed in group 1 of the table, alkali metals are among the most active metals. This element was found in 1801 by a man named Humphry Davy. Although the element does not have many uses in pure form as a compound it has many important purposes. Potassium is naturally in the human body if levels become too low or too high then it could cause problems for the individual. Low levels of potassium could cause muscle problems such as cramping and the muscle feeling weak, the person could have a hard time walking or holding onto objects. A serious concern would be the effects on the heart as it causes blood pressure to increase and abnormal heart rhythms.
Hypertension and Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes type2, Osteoporosis, and Migraine headache, are all illnesses can result in Magnesium deficiency.
This essay is all about the Element Magnesium. Magnesium is one of the wider known Elements from the periodic table and, as stated in the following essay, is very good for the human body, especially the muscles. It is also one that has been put in to a few different forms to be easier to take as a supplement. This is one of the points discussed in the following essay, as well as these other points; the history of Magnesium and its discovery, places you will find it such as food or other sources, its uses, plus potential health benefits and harms.
Many fruits and vegetables contain potassium and other nutrients that help bone health. Eating potassium helps the diminution in bone mineral density that occurs with aging, particularly among elderly women. Bananas, plums, carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes include potassium. The good amount of daily potassium is 4,700 milligrams (Medical 2013).
Mr. Cronstedt discovered nickel in a mineral called niccolite. He originally planned to extract copper from this new mineral but got none at all. This is why nickel, at first, was called "false copper". Instead, Cronstedt got a silvery-white metal, which was eventually used for other things.
Magnesium is an important element necessary healthy bones and teeth. The use of all muscles, and nerves convert it into energy for daily living. It is also instrumental in maintaining adequate levels of calcium in the blood. Having a therapeutic magnesium level helps prevent cardiovascular disease and reduces the risk of bone loss. The body of the adult human contains about 2000 mEq of Mg. Half of this amount stays within the skeleton and the other half in soft tissues (Wacker and Parisi 1968). The normal concentration in the blood is somewhere in the ranges of 1.7-2.3 mg/dL (Magnesium, 2013)
People discovered salt around 900 B.C. They would dig up salt near the Dead Sea and in South America. Salt has been important in the world’s culture for thousands of years. People used to use it to preserve meat or fish. Salt was so valuable that in several places, some would use it as money and others would trade it off for something else. (Aasen, et Al 1999).
Copper is a trace mineral found in all bodily organs. It works in conjunction with iron to produce red blood cells. It's also necessary for helping the body store and absorb iron. While copper deficiency is relatively rare in modern society, not getting enough of this mineral can be detrimental to health. Symptoms of copper deficiency may include anemia, arthritis, bruising, fatigue, frequent illness, and unexplained weight loss. Although copper is an essential mineral for survival, it isn’t made by the body. Therefore, to get enough copper, you’ll need to obtain it through the diet.
Uranium was discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German chemist, in the mineral pitchblende (primarily a mix of uranium oxides) in 1789.Klaproth, as well as the rest of the scientific community, believed that the substance he extracted from pitchblende was pure uranium, it was actually uranium dioxide (UO2). After noticing that 'pure' uranium reacted oddly with uranium tetrachloride (UCl4), Radioactivity was first discovered in 1896 when Antoine Henri Becquerel, a French physicist, detected it from a sample of uranium. Today, uranium is obtained from uranium ores such as pitchblende, uraninite , carnotite and autunite as well as from phosphate rock , lignite (brown coal) and monazite sand . Since there is little demand for uranium metal, uranium is usually sold in the form of sodium diuranate , also known as yellow cake, or triuranium octoxide).
In 1817, an aging Swedish chemist was pouring over his work on a late afternoon in Stockholm, Sweden. He was analyzing a strange ore named Petalite that had been procured from an island off the coast of Sweden called Utö. The ore Petalite (which is now recognized to be LiAl(Si2O5)2) had been discovered by a Brazilian scientist, José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva towards the end of the 18th century on a visit to Sweden. This Swedish scientist, Johann August Arfvedson, detected traces of an unknown substance in his sample of Petalite. This was the first discovery of Lithium.
Minerals (micronutrient), there are various minerals and each group plays a different role, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P) all help to harden bones and teeth. Iron (Fe) plays a crucial role in haemoglobin (Hb). Potassium (K), sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) are all helpful in maintaining the bodies PH balance and are all used in action potential (Grammarly,
The kidneys are a bean-shaped organ in the human body and they have different functions and are of vital importance for it. The kidneys are the pair of organs, which are able to regulate the reabsorption of ions such as potassium, sodium and calcium, which are fundamental substances for the cell. Furthermore, they are involved in the reabsorption of nutrients in the bloodstream and they can regulate the acidity of the blood. Besides the regulation of the fluids and ions, the kidneys are also responsible for the regulation of many different hormones that are involved in homeostasis and metabolism. Because of their importance in the regulation of substances in the body, when the kidneys stop working properly all the body is influenced by that creating disequilibrium in the maintenance of homeostasi...
In conclusion, our body is made up of several ions that are essential in the body in order to obtain a healthy system. In order to be provided with the benefits these ions offer the body, the body must be cared for by being fed the right foods, being exercised regularly and making sure it’s healthy by attending scheduled check-ups. Ions help the body in more ways than one. They provide the body with nutrients that strengthen our health system in order to ensure we maintain our well-being. These ions can be beneficial to the human body by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.