chemical description of calcium
Calcium is a chemical element with symbol Ca and atomic number 20. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth 's crust. The ion Ca 2+ is also the fifth-most-abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate.Free calcium metal is too reactive to occur in nature.n chemical terms, calcium is reactive and soft for a metal; though harder than lead, it can be cut with a knife with difficulty. It is a silvery metallic element that must be extracted by electrolysis from a fused salt like calcium chloride.