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The active metals in columns 1 and 2 of a wide form periodic table cannot be reduced to elemental metals by electrolysis in aqueous electrolytic cells, because any atom of elemental active metal that might be transiently produced, by reduction of a positive ion of the active metal to a neutral atom, will react almost instantaneously with two nearby water molecules to produce hydrogen gas, hydroxyl ions, and regenerated positive ions of the active metal.

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11y ago

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