APA citation style: Historic American Buildings Survey, C. & Benison, G. (1933) Oakland Plantation, Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, SC. Documentation Compiled After. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sc0292/.
There are 18 groups (columns) in the periodic table. Group 1 (also known as the alkali metals) is the column on the far left of the table. Elements in the same group have similar, but not identical characteristics. This is because they all have the same number of electrons in their outermost shell.
The alkali metals, found in group 1 of the periodic table (formerly known as group IA), are very reactive metals that do not occur freely in nature. These metals have only one electron in their outer shell. Therefore, they are ready to lose that one electron in ionic bonding with other elements.