Is potassium oxide naturally made, or is it a compound formed from a chemical reaction in a laboratory?
Potassium oxide (K2O) results from the oxidation of elemental potassium metal. Since free potassium metal is too reactive to exist in nature on Earth, this reaction isn’t commonplace. If you think on a more cosmic level, then no doubt some potassium that’s formed in the stars encounters oxygen to form the oxide, but this is a deep-space thing that’s not happening naturally on Earth at the moment. In any case, in nature on Earth, any potassium oxide present would very quickly be converted to the hydroxide by contact with atmospheric moisture. If you want to see potassium oxide, then you’ll have to see a synthetic product.
