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beryllium with water - no oxide?

I seem to have in my notes that beryllium does not make an oxide (or hydroxide) with water. Then i have amphoteric written beside it. Is this the reason why it doesn't form an oxide in water. I know that its oxide formed by heating beryllium in excess oxygen is amphoteric.

Sum1 please explain. Firstly does it react in water to form any beryllium compounds. Then i need to explain why it does what it does.
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ShOcKzZ
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ryan750
I seem to have in my notes that beryllium does not make an oxide (or hydroxide) with water. Then i have amphoteric written beside it. Is this the reason why it doesn't form an oxide in water. I know that its oxide formed by heating beryllium in excess oxygen is amphoteric.

Sum1 please explain. Firstly does it react in water to form any beryllium compounds. Then i need to explain why it does what it does.


Hey, its been a while since i did A-level Chemistry so please check this over as i may have forgotten.

But from what i remember, Be can not react with water because it is a very stable element. Top of group 2 - Be2+ ions have a high charge density since they are very small. Beryllium's outer electron is very strongly attracted by the positive charge of the nucleus (as there is not much shielding, and the atomic radius is small) so it doesn't react much.

About the amphoteric charachter..i think it Be(OH)2 that dissolves in both HCL and NaOH:

Be(OH)2 + 2NaOH --> Na2Be(OH)4
Be(OH)2 + 2HCL --> BeCl2 + 2H2O

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