Editing Potassium oxide (section)

==Properties and reactions==
K<sub>2</sub>O crystallises in the [[Fluorite structure|
 antifluorite structure]].  In this motif the positions of the [[anion]]s and [[cation]]s are reversed relative to their positions in [[calcium fluoride|CaF<sub>2</sub>]], with potassium ions coordinated to 4 oxide ions and oxide ions coordinated to 8 potassium.<ref>{{cite journal|title = Gitterstruktur der oxide, sulfide, selenide und telluride des lithiums, natriums und kaliums|journal = Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie und Angewandte Physikalische Chemie|year = 1934|volume = 40|pages = 588–93|last1 = Zintl|first1 = E.|last2 = Harder|first2 = A.|author3 = Dauth B.| issue=8 | doi=10.1002/bbpc.19340400811 |author-link1 = Eduard Zintl}}</ref><ref>Wells, A.F. (1984) Structural Inorganic Chemistry, Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|0-19-855370-6}}.</ref> K<sub>2</sub>O is a basic oxide and reacts with water violently to produce the caustic [[potassium hydroxide]]. It is [[deliquescent]] and will absorb water from the atmosphere, initiating this vigorous reaction.