ABSTRACT
Pure potassium is a soft solid that does not freely occur in nature as it oxidizes rapidly in air and reacts violently with water. Potassium is, therefore, generally found in nature in the form of compounds, such as the most common potassium chloride (salt), potassium superoxide, potassium hydroxide, and potassium carbonate. The name potassium is derived from the English word potash, which refers to the method of extracting potassium salts from a “pot” of the “ash” of burned plant leaves. Potassium was originally used in French-and English-speaking countries, while Germanic countries used the word kalium, which comes from “kali,” itself from the Arabic root word alkali, meaning “plant ashes”. Any impairment of energy metabolism or insult to the cell membrane integrity can lead to dysregulation of these ionic transporters and of the membrane potential, leading to a decrease in intracellular potassium concentration and/or a local increase in extracellular potassium concentration.
