Question

How would you write the formula for potassium metal?

Answer 1

In most of the chemical names the initial letter is the elemental symbol. Whereas, sometimes two letters from the left-hand side or sometimes the initial letter and one of the letters from the element name is taken into account.
Also, sometimes the symbols are derived from the initial letters of the name from which the chemical name is derived.

Complete answer:
Let us know about the key facts about potassium-
Atomic number – 19
Atomic weight – 39.09
Melting point – 336.7 K
Boiling point – 1032 K
Density – 0.89 grams per cubic centimetre
Phase at room temperature – solid
Element classification – alkali metal
Block – s-block
Period number – 4
Group number – 1
Group name – alkali metals
Symbol – K (from Latin name Kallium)
Electronic configuration - $\left[ Ar \right]4{{s}^{1}}$
Oxidation states - +1

Additional information:
Potassium is the seventh most abundant element in nature and is a silvery white metal which is soft enough to be cut into pieces. It has high reactivity towards atmospheric oxygen. It occurs as ionic salts in natural form.

Note:
Here, the initial letter from the origin name is being taken instead of the initial letter of the chemical name. The initial letter from potassium is ‘P’; this is actually the symbol for the element phosphorus.