Alkaline metals are elements in group 2 of the periodic table. The alkaline earth metals are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), and radium (Ra).
Many of the physical properties common to metals
-harder, denser, stronger than alkali metals
-higher melting points than alkali metal
-less reactive than alkali, nonetheless too reactive to be found in nature as a free element
