Alkali Metals and Alkaline Earth Metals
The alkali metals (group 1) have very similar properties: they are all shiny, soft, highly reactive metals at standard temperature and pressure and readily lose their outermost electron to form cations with charge +1. The alkaline earth metals are all shiny, silvery-white, somewhat reactive metals at standard temperature and pressure.
The alkali metals are a group (column) in the periodic table consisting of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and francium (Fr).