The ratio of elimination to substitution is exactly the same (26% elimination) for 2−bromo−2−methylbutane and 2−iodo−2−methylbutane in 80% ethanol/20% water at 25°C. By what mechanism does elimination most likely occur in these compounds under these conditions?

alkaline metals are lithium, sodium, rubidium, potassium, cesium and francium.

alkali metals have electronegativity from 0.7 to 1, lowest in periodic table of elements, which means that alkali metals (i group in periodic table) has positive oxidation number in compounds.

electronegativity is a chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom to attract a shared pair of electrons towards itself.

alkaline metals (far left in main group) have lowest ionizations energy and easy remove valence electrons,

for example, potassium is the alkali metal and has a single valence electron in the outer electron shell.

electron configuration of potassium is: ₁₉k 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶4s¹.

they can not exist alone in nature, because they are very reactive.

answer: -

reaction:

na + cl ⇌ nacl

balanced chemical equation:

na + 2cl ⇌ nacl2

sodium + clorine goes to form sodium chloride (table salt).

the product is nacl2.

and the reactants are na and cl.

(note: if you don’t know what ⇌ means, read below: -

⇌(double head arrow) means reversible reaction).

a corroding iron, if that's one of your choices