Potassium (K) and nickel (Ni) do not actually have the same number of valence electrons or similar reactivity, as they belong to different groups in the periodic table.
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Valence Electrons: Potassium, as an alkali metal in Group 1, has one valence electron. Nickel, a transition metal in Group 10, has eight valence electrons (in its outermost shell when considering the d-block).
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Electron Shells: While both potassium and nickel do have multiple electron shells, they have different numbers of these shells. Potassium has four electron shells (2, 8, 8, 1), while nickel has four shells as well (2, 8, 18, 2), but the arrangement and configuration differ.
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Reactivity: Potassium is highly reactive, especially with water, while nickel is relatively unreactive compared to potassium. Nickel is often used in alloys and does not easily react with water.
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Physical Properties: They do not have similar physical properties either, as potassium is a soft, light metal that can be cut with a knife, while nickel is a harder, more durable metal used in many industrial applications.
Therefore, the main commonality between potassium and nickel is that they both occupy the same period (row) of the periodic table (the fourth period), but their chemical properties differ significantly due to their positions in different groups.