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Isolation of Potassium
- When
- 1807
- Where
- Royal Institution
Humphry Davy isolated potassium from molten caustic potash using electrolysis, marking the first time a metal was obtained by this method.
In 1807, Davy produced the element via electrolysis at the Royal Institution. He derived it from molten caustic potash (KOH) using the newly discovered voltaic pile. This process demonstrated that potassium was a distinct element, confirming earlier suggestions about alkali metals.
Sources
- Potassium Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29
- Humphry Davy Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
- Royal Institution Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-29
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.