Question

Why are both lithium and cesium alkali metals, when lithium has three electrons
and cesium has 55

Answer 1

Answer:

Because they both have one electron in their outermost shell

Explanation:

Both lithium and cesium are classified as alkali metals because they both have just one electron in their outermost shell.

 The electronic configuration of both atoms are:

          Lithium  = 2, 1

          Cesium  = 2, 8, 18, 18, 8, 1

Now we can see that the outer shell of both elements have just one electrons.

Division into groups is based on the number of outer most shell of each element