The alkali metals are the most reactive family in the periodic table. This is due to the fact that alkali metals have a charge of 1+, and also have extremely low ionization energies. Ionization energy is the minimum amount of energy required for an atom to remove an electron. Since alkali metals have very low ionization energies, they are ready to give up their one lonely electron at any given time. alkali metals react especially violent with water, and thus must be stored under oil. In comparison to their other metal brethren, these metals tend to have low melting and boiling points. alkali metals also have low densities, allowing them to easily float on water. These metals also have low electronegativities, meaning they have a low tendency to attract a bonding pair of electrons.