Why are alkali metal stored in oil or gasoline

jhon
Asked Jan 18, 2012
Metals that interact with the moisture in the air are sometimes stored in oil to prevent the damage that comes from contact with it.
Rob
Answered Jan 18, 2012
why not just store it in water? That seems much safer to me, and it should have the same effect.
Water will do more damage to some metals than air. Oxygen is the oxidizer that causes rust. Where flammability is an issue they use mineral oil as with lithium for example.
Rob Jan 18, 2012

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