Hydrogen

Hydrogen [H]
CAS-ID: 1333-74-0
An: 1 N: 0
Am: 1.00794 g/mol
Group No: 1
Group Name: Non-metals
Block: s-block Period: 1
State: gas at 298 K (the lightest gas known)
Colour: colourless Classification: Non-metallic
Boiling Point: 20.268K (-252.87°C)
Melting Point: 14.01K (-259.14°C)
Critical temperature: 33K (-240°C)
Density: 0.08988g/cm3
Discovery Information
Who: Henry Cavendish
When: 1766
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: hudor (water) and gennan (generate)
"Hydrogen" in different languages.
Sources
Found chiefly combined with oxygen in the form of water, also found in mines and oil
and gas wells. Stars contain a virtually unlimited supply of hydrogen and in the universe,
hydrogen is the most abundant element (hydrogen makes up 75% of the mass of the
visible universe and over 90% by number of atoms.).
Annual world production of hydrogen is around 350 billion cubic metres.
Abundance
Universe: 7.5 x 105 ppm (by weight)
Sun: 7.5 x 105 ppm (by weight)
Carbonaceous meteorite: 24000 ppm
Earth's Crust: 1500 ppm
Seawater: 107800 ppm
Human:
1 x 108 ppb by weight
6.2 x 108 ppb by atoms
Uses
Hydrogen's uses include: being used in the production of ammonia (NH3), ethanol
(C2H5OH), hydrogen chloride (HCl) and hydrogen bromide (HBr); the hydrogenation of
vegetable oils; hydrocracking, hydroforming and hydrofining of petroleum; atomic-
hydrogen welding; instrument-carrying balloons; fuel in rockets; and cryogenic
research. Its two heavier isotopes, deuterium (D) and tritium (T), are used respectively
for nuclear fission and fusion.
Hydrogen fuel cells are being investigated as mobile power sources with lower emissions
than hydrogen-burning internal combustion engines. The low emissions of hydrogen in
internal combustion engines and fuel cells are currently offset by the pollution created
by hydrogen production. This may change if the substantial amounts of electricity
required for water electrolysis can be generated primarily from low pollution sources
such as solar energy or wind. Research is being conducted on H2 as a replacement for
fossil fuels.
History
Hydrogen gas, H2, was first artificially produced and formally described by T. von
Hohenheim (also known as Paracelsus, 1493 - 1541) via the mixing of metals with
strong acids. He was unaware that the flammable gas produced by this chemical
reaction was a new chemical element. In 1671, Robert Boyle rediscovered and described
the reaction between iron filings and dilute acids, which results in the production of
hydrogen gas. In 1766, Henry Cavendish was the first to recognize hydrogen gas as a
discrete substance, by identifying the gas from a metal-acid reaction as "inflammable
air" and further finding that the gas produces water when burned. Cavendish had
stumbled on hydrogen when experimenting with acids and mercury. Although he
wrongly assumed that hydrogen was a liberated component of the mercury rather than
the acid, he was still able to accurately describe several key properties of hydrogen. He
is usually given credit for its discovery as an element. In 1783, Antoine Lavoisier gave
the element the name of hydrogen when he (with Laplace) reproduced Cavendish's
finding that water is produced when hydrogen is burned. Lavoisier's name for the gas
won out.
One of the first uses of H2 was for balloons, and later airships. The H2 was obtained by
reacting sulphuric acid and metallic iron. Infamously, H2 was used in the Hindenburg
airship that was destroyed in a midair fire. The highly flammable hydrogen (H2) was
later replaced for airships and most balloons by the unreactive helium (He).
Notes
At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen exists as the diatomic gas, H2, with a
boiling point of 20.27 K, and a melting point of 14.02 K. Under extreme pressures, such
as those at the center of gas giants, the molecules lose their identity and the hydrogen
becomes a metal (metallic hydrogen). Under the extremely low pressure in space -
virtually a vacuum - the element tends to exist as individual atoms, simply because it is
statistically unlikely for them to combine.
A unique property of hydrogen is that its flame is nearly invisible in air.
Hazards
Hydrogen is a tasteless, colourless, odourless, and extremely flammable gas, it is also
the lightest chemical element.
Helium [He]
CAS-ID: 7440-59-7
An: 2 N: 2
Am: 4.002602 g/mol
Group No: 18
Group Name: Noble gas
Block: p-block Period: 1
State: gas at 298 K
Melting Point: 0.95K (-272.2°C) @ 2.5MPa
Critical temperature: 5.19K (-267.96°C)
Density: 0.1786g/l
Availability: There is very little helium on earth as nearly all present during and
immediately after the earth's formation has long since been lost as it is so light. Just
about all the helium remaining on the planet is the result of radioactive decay. While
there is some helium in the atmosphere, currently its isolation from that source by
liquefaction and separation of air is not normally economic. This is because it is easier,
and cheaper, to isolate the gas from certain natural gases. Concentrations of helium in
natural gas in the USA are as high as 7% and other good sources include natural gas
from some sources in Poland. It is isolable from these gases by liquefaction and
separation of from the natural gas. This would not normally be carried out in the
laboratory and helium is available commercially in cylinders under pressure.
Who: Sir William Ramsey, Nils Langet, P T Cleve
When: 1895
Where: Scotland/Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: helios (sun).
"Helium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in natural gas deposits and in the air (5 parts per billion) Constantly lost to space;
replenished by radioactive decay (alpha particles). Helium is the second most abundant
element in the universe by mass (25%). Most of the helium supplied around the world
comes from the area around Amarillo, Texas.
Annual commercial production is around 4500 tons.
Abundance
Universe: 2.3 x 105 ppm (by weight)
Sun: 2.3 x 105 ppm (by weight)
Atmosphere: 5.2 ppm
Earth's Crust: 0.008 ppm
Seawater: 7 x 10-6 ppm
Uses
Used in balloons as it is lighter than air, and unlike hydrogen, not flammable; deep sea
diving and welding. Also used in very low temperature research and nuclear power plant
coolant. Future possible uses include use as coolant for nuclear fusion power plants and
in superconducting electric systems.
At extremely low temperatures, liquid helium is used to cool certain metals to produce
superconductivity, such as in superconducting magnets used in magnetic resonance
imaging. Helium at low temperatures is also used in cryogenics.
Because it is inert, helium is used as a protective gas in growing silicon and germanium
crystals, in titanium and zirconium production, in gas chromatography, and as an
atmosphere for protecting historical documents. This property also makes it useful in
supersonic wind tunnels.
History
Evidence of helium was first detected on August 18, 1868, as a bright yellow line with a
wavelength of 587.49 nanometres in the spectrum of the chromosphere of the Sun, by
French astronomer Pierre Janssen during a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India. This line
was initially assumed to be sodium. On October 20 of the same year, English
astronomer Norman Lockyer observed a yellow line in the solar spectrum, which he
named the D3 line, for it was near the known D1 and D2 lines of sodium and concluded
that it was caused by an element in the Sun unknown on Earth. He and English chemist
Edward Frankland named the element with the Greek word for the Sun.
On 26 March 1895 British chemist William Ramsay isolated helium on Earth by treating
the mineral cleveite with mineral acids. Ramsay was looking for argon but, after
separating nitrogen and oxygen from the gas liberated by sulfuric acid, noticed a bright-
yellow line that matched the D3 line observed in the spectrum of the Sun. These samples
were identified as helium by Lockyer and British physicist William Crookes. It was
independently isolated from cleveite the same year by chemists Per Teodor Cleve and
Abraham Langlet in Uppsala, Sweden, who collected enough of the gas to accurately
determine its atomic weight. Helium was also isolated by the American geochemist
William Francis Hillebrand prior to Ramsay's discovery when he noticed unusual spectral
lines while testing a sample of the mineral uraninite. Hillebrand, however, attributed the
lines to nitrogen. His letter of congratulations to Ramsay offers an interesting case of
discovery and near-discovery in science.
In 1907, Ernest Rutherford and Thomas Royds demonstrated that an alpha particle is a
helium nucleus. In 1908, helium was first liquefied by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh
Onnes by cooling the gas to less than one kelvin. He tried to solidify it by further
reducing the temperature but failed because helium does not have a triple point
temperature where the solid, liquid, and gas phases are at equilibrium. It was first
solidified in 1926 by his student Willem Hendrik Keesom by subjecting helium to 25
atmospheres of pressure.
In 1938, Russian physicist Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa discovered that helium-4 has
almost no viscosity at temperatures near absolute zero, a phenomenon now called
superfluidity. In 1972, the same phenomenon was observed in helium-3 by American
physicists Douglas D. Osheroff, David M. Lee, and Robert C. Richardson.
Notes
Helium has the lowest melting and boiling point of any element. Liquid Helium is called a
"quantum fluid" as it displays atomic properties on a macroscopic scale. The viscosity of
liquid helium is 25 micro poises (water has a viscosity of 10,000 micro poises). As
helium is cooled below its transition point, it has an unusual property of superfluidity
with a viscosity approaching zero micro poises. In addition, liquid helium has extremely
high thermal conductivity.
Helium is the second most abundant and second lightest element in the periodic table. It
is also the least reactive of all the group 18 (noble gases) elements.
One cubic metre of helium will lift 1kg. Helium is the preferred choice for airships as
although it is more expensive it is not flammable and has 92% the lifting power of
hydrogen.
The voice of a person who has inhaled helium temporarily sounds high-pitched,
resembling those of the cartoon characters "Alvin and the Chipmunks". This is because
the speed of sound in helium is nearly three times that in air. Although the vocal effect
of inhaling helium may be amusing, it can be dangerous if done to excess since helium is
a simple asphyxiant, thus it displaces oxygen needed for normal respiration. Death by
asphyxiation will result within minutes if pure helium is breathed continuously.
Lithium [Li]
CAS-ID: 7439-93-2
An: 3 N: 4
Am: [6.941 (2)] g/mol
Group No: 1
Group Name: Alkali metal
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white/grey Classification: Metallic
Boiling Point: 1615K (1342°C)
Melting Point: 453.69K (180.54°C)
Critical temperature: 3223K (2950°C)
Density: 0.534g/cm3
Who: Johann Arfvedson
When: 1817
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: lithos (stone).
"Lithium" in different languages.
Sources
Lithium is widely distributed but does not occur in nature in its free form. Because of its
reactivity, it is always found bound with one or more other elements or compounds.
Found in trace amounts in the minerals; spodumene (LiAl(SiO3)2), amblygonite
(Li,Na)AlPO4(F,OH)), lepidolite (KLi2Al(Al,Si)3O10(F,OH)2). Most commercial lithium is
recovered from brines sources in Chile. Also obtained by passing electric charge through
melted lithium chloride.
Around 39 thousand tons are produced every year.
Abundance
Universe: 0.006 ppm (by weight)
Sun: 0.00006 ppm (by weight)
Carbonaceous meteorite: 1.7 ppm
Seawater: 0.18 ppm
Human:
30 ppb by weight
27 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in batteries, ceramics, glass, lubricants, alloy hardeners, pharmaceuticals,
hydrogenating agents, heat transfer liquids, rocket propellants, vitamin A synthesis,
nuclear reactor coolant, underwater buoyancy devices and the production of tritium.
Deoxidizer in copper and copper alloys.
Alloys of the metal with aluminium, cadmium, copper, and manganese are used to make
high performance aircraft parts.
Lithium salts such as lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), lithium citrate, and lithium orotate are
mood stabilizers (the effect is due to the lithium ion, so the type of salt is unimportant).
They are used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since unlike most other mood
altering drugs, they counteract both mania and depression. Lithium can also be used to
augment other antidepressant drugs. Useful amounts of lithium for this use are only
slightly lower than toxic amounts, so the blood levels of lithium must be carefully
monitored during such treatment.
Lithium metal is used as a catalyst in some types of methamphetamine production,
particularly in illegal amateur "meth labs."
History
Petalite (LiAlSi4O10), which has lithium in it, was discovered by the Brazilian scientist
Jose Bonifacio de Andrade e Silva in the late 1700s on a trip to Sweden. Lithium was
discovered by Johan August Arfwedson in 1817. Arfwedson found the new element
within the minerals spodumene and lepidolite in a petalite ore (LiAl(Si2O5)2) that he was
analyzing during a routine investigation of some minerals from a mine on the island Uto
in Sweden. In 1818 Christian Gmelin was the first to observe that lithium salts give a
bright red colour in flame. Both men tried and failed to isolate the element from its salts.
The element was not isolated until William Thomas Brande and Sir Humphry Davy later
used electrolysis on lithium oxide in 1818. Robert Bunsen and Matiessen isolated larger
quantities of the metal by electrolysis of lithium chloride in 1855. Commercial production
of lithium metal was achieved in 1923 by the German company Metallgesellschaft
through using electrolysis of molten lithium chloride and potassium chloride. It was
apparently given the name "lithium" because it was discovered from a mineral while
other common alkali metals were first discovered from plant tissue.
Notes
Lithium is a soft, silvery metal, so soft that it can be cut with a sharp knife. It is the
lightest of all metals and has a density only half that of water.
Lithium is one of only three elements - and the only metal - created in the first moments
of the Big Bang. (The other two elements are hydrogen and helium, which according to
cosmologists, were created in much greater abundance than lithium.)
Hazards
Lithium causes serious burns, especially when in contact with damp skin. Contact with
the eyes may cause serious permanent damage.
It is the only metal that reacts with nitrogen at room temperature. Near its melting
point, lithium ignites in air. Lithium posses a dangerous fire and explosion risk when
exposed to water, acids or oxidizing agents. Lithium fires are difficult to extinguish,
requiring special chemicals designed to smother them. It reacts exothermally with
nitrogen in moist air at high temperatures. In solution lithium is toxic and targets the
central nervous system.
Beryllium [Be]
CAS-ID: 7440-41-7
An: 4 N: 5
Am: 9.012182 (3) g/mol
Group No: 2
Group Name: Alkaline earth metal
State: solid
Colour: lead grey Classification: Metallic
Melting Point: 1560K (1287°C)
Superconducting temperature: 0.026K (-273.124°C)
Density: 1.85g/cm3
Who: Fredrich Wohler, A. A. Busy
When: 1798
Where: Germany/France
Name Origin
From the mineral beryl.
"Beryllium" in different languages.
Sources
Found mostly in minerals like beryl [AlBe3(Si6O18)] and chrysoberyl (Al2BeO4).
Important mining locations are Brazil, the USA, Madagascar, Germany, Czech Republic,
Russia and India. Annual production is round 360 tons. Total world-wide reserves are
estimate to be around 400 thousand tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Atlantic surface: 8.8 x 10-8 ppm
Atlantic deep: 1.7 x 10-7 ppm
Pacific surface: 3.5 x 10-8 ppm
Pacific deep: 2.2 x 10-7 ppm
Human:
0.4 ppb by weight
0.3 ppb by atoms
Uses
Its ability to absorb large amounts of heat makes it useful in spacecraft, missiles,
aircraft, etc. Emeralds are beryl crystals with chromium traces giving them their green
colour. Also used in light weight metal alloys, X-ray tube windows, watch springs and
sparkless tools.
Beryllium oxide (BeO) is useful for many applications that require an excellent heat
conductor, with high strength and hardness, with a very high melting point, and that
acts as an electrical insulator.
Beryllium is also used in the making of gyroscopes, various computer equipment, watch
springs and instruments where light-weight, rigidity and dimensional stability are
needed.
The James Webb Space Telescope, will have 18 hexagonal beryllium sections for its
mirrors. Because the JWST will face a temperature of -240 degrees Celsius (30 kelvins),
the mirror is made of beryllium, a material capable of handling extreme cold better than
glass. Beryllium contracts and deforms less than glass, and thus remains more uniform,
in such temperatures.
History
This element was discovered by Louis Vauquelin 1798 as the oxide in beryl and in
emeralds. Friedrich Wöhler and A. A. busy independently isolated the metal in 1828 by
reacting potassium and beryllium chloride.
Notes
The speed of sound in beryllium (12,500 m s-1) is greater than in any other element.
Beryllium comes from Greek beryllos, beryl. It has also been called Glucinium or
Glucinum from the Greek word glykys which means "sweet." Beryllium is found in beryl,
chrysoberyl (Al2BeO4) and phenakite (Be2SiO4). Aquamarine and emeralds are precious
forms of beryl. It has a high melting point for a light metal and is more elastic than
steel. It is used in computer parts, gyroscopes and for construction. Beryllium and its
salts are toxic and should be handled with great care. Do not taste it to confirm that it is
sweet.
Beryllium is an essential constituent of roughly 100 out of about 4000 known minerals.
Hazards
Beryllium and its salts are highly toxic substances and carcinogenic.
Boron [B]
CAS-ID: 7440-42-8
An: 5 N: 6
Am: 10.811 (7) g/mol
Group No: 13
Group Name: Metalloids
State: solid
Colour: black Classification: Semi-metallic
Density: 2.34g/cm3
Who: H. Davy, J.L. Gay-Lussac, L.J. Thenard
When: 1828
Where: England/France
Name Origin
From borax and carbon.
"Boron" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained from kernite, a kind of borax (Na2B4O7.10H2O). The world wide commercial
borate deposits are estimated to be 1010 kg of boron.
The USA, Tibet, Chile and Turkey are important producers. Around 1 million tons of boric
anhydride (B2O3) are produced each year.
Abundance
Seawater: 4.41 ppm
Human:
700 ppb by weight
410 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used with titanium and tungsten to make light weight heat resistant alloys. Also tennis
rackets, regulators in nuclear plants, heat resistant glass and eye disinfectant. Boric acid
(H3BO3) is used an insectiside, mostly against ants or cockroaches.
Boron nitride is a material in which the extra electron of nitrogen (with respect to
carbon) enables it to form structures that are isoelectronic with carbon allotropes.
Sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Na2B4O7 - 10H2O) or borax, used in the production of
adhesives, in anti-corrosion systems and many other uses.
Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate (Na2B4O7 - 5H2O), which is used in large amounts in
making insulating fiberglass and sodium perborate bleach.
Orthoboric acid (H3BO3) or boric acid is used in the production of textile fiberglass, flat
panel displays and eye drops.
Boron slurry is used as an energetic material with very high energy density like rocket
fuels and jet engines.
History
Compounds of boron have been known of for thousands of years. In early Egypt,
mummification depended upon an ore known as natron, which contained borates as well
as some other common salts. Borax glazes were used in China from 300 AD, and boron
compounds were used in glassmaking in ancient Rome.
The element was not isolated until 1808 by Sir Humphry Davy, Joseph Louis Gay-
Lussac, and Louis Jacques Thenard, to about 50 percent purity, by the reduction of boric
acid with sodium or magnesium. These men did not recognize the substance as an
element. It was Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1824 that identified boron as an element. The
first pure boron was produced by the American chemist W. Weintraub in 1909, although
this is disputed by some researchers.
Notes
At standard temperatures boron is a poor electrical conductor but is a good conductor at
high temperatures.
Boron nitride can be used to make materials that are almost as hard as diamond. The
nitride also acts as an electrical insulator but conducts heat similar to a metal. This
element also has lubricating qualities that are similar to graphite.
Boron is never found in the elemental form in nature. It was first obtained by Moissan in
1895 by reduction of boric anhydride with magnesium in a thermite-type reaction. This
is still used for obtaining large quantities of impure boron. Highly purified crystalline
boron is obtained by vapour phase reduction of the compound boron trichloride with
hydrogen on electrically heated filaments in a flow system.
The United States and Turkey are the world's largest producers of boron.
Hazards
Elemental boron and borates are not toxic and therefore do not require special
precautions while handling. Some of the more exotic boron hydrogen compounds,
however, are toxic as well as highly flammable and do require special handling care.
Boron is highly flammable.
Carbon [C]
CAS-ID: 7440-44-0
An: 6 N: 6
Am: 12.0107 g/mol
Group No: 14
Group Name: Non-metals
Colour: graphite is black, diamond is colourless Classification: Non-metallic
Density: (graphite) 2.267g/cm3
Density: (diamond) 3.513g/cm3
Who: It was discovered in prehistory and was known to the ancients, who manufactured
it by burning organic material in insufficient oxygen (making charcoal).
Name Origin
Latin: carbo (coal)
"Carbon" in different languages.
Sources
Made by burning organic compounds with insufficient oxygen.
Graphite deposits are found in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Russia, South Korea, Mexico,
Czech Republic and Italy.
Diamonds are primarily found in South Africa, USA, Russia, Brazil, Zaire, Sierra Leone
and Ghana.
Abundance
Universe: 5000 ppm (by weight)
Sun: 3000 ppm (by weight)
Atmosphere: 350 ppm
Seawater:
Atlantic surface: 23 ppm
Atlantic deep: 26 ppm
Pacific surface: 23 ppm
Pacific deep: 28 ppm
Human:
2.3 x 108 ppb by weight
Uses
As carbon's major properties very widely depending upon its form, carbon's uses also
vary greatly. Carbon-14 which is radioactive is used in "carbon dating" (telling how old
something is by determining the amount of Carbon-14 present in the item being tested
as compared to a standard value for a similar object which is new). Other uses include
pencils, diamonds, steel, controls nuclear reactions, tire colourant, plastics, paint
pigments, lubricants and much more.
History
It was discovered in prehistory and was known to the ancients, who manufactured it by
burning organic material in insufficient oxygen (making charcoal). It is also found in
abundance in the Sun, stars, comets, and atmospheres of most planets. Carbon in the
form of microscopic diamonds is found in some meteorites.
Natural diamonds are found in kimberlite of ancient volcanic "pipes," found in South
Africa, Arkansas, Northern Canada and elsewhere. Diamonds are now also being
recovered from the ocean floor off the Cape of Good Hope. About 30% of all industrial
diamonds used in the U.S. are now made synthetically.
Notes
Carbon has many allotropes each having very different physical properties from the
other. Graphite (pencil lead) for instance is one of the softest forms of carbon, while
diamonds are the hardest.
Carbon compounds are named according to the number of carbons present in the basic
chain, the presence of single, double or triple bonds, whether or not the carbon chain
forms a cyclic structure and the element or ions that substitute for hydrogens in the
chain. A carbon compound with one carbon atom is a methyl-, two is an ethyl- , three is
a propyl-, four butyl-, five penta, six hexa-, etc. Single a bonded hydrocarbon
(hydrogen-carbon structure) is an alkane, double bond is an alkene and a triple bond is
an alkyne.
With more than eighteen million compounds of carbon registered with the Chemical
Abstract Registry (CAS), there is much to say about carbon. So much in fact that there
is an entire field of chemistry called organic chemistry that is devoted to these
compounds. One could get a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and still feel that one had barely
gotten their feet wet.
Approximately 130 million carats (26,000 kg) are mined annually, with a total value of
nearly USD $9 billion, and about 100,000 kg are synthesized annually.
Nitrogen [N]
CAS-ID: 7727-37-9
An: 7 N: 7
Am: 14.0067 g/mol
Group No: 15
Group Name: Pnictogen
State: gas at 298 K
Density: 1.251g/l
Who: Daniel Rutherford
When: 1772
Where: Scotland/Sweden
Name Origin
Latin nitrogenium, where nitrum (from Greek nitron) means "native soda", and genes
means "forming".
"Nitrogen" in different languages.
Sources
Nitrogen can be made by liquification and then fractional distillation of the air. It is very
easily done commercially. It can also be made by heating NaN3 to 300 degrees C.
Around 44 million tons are produced annually.
Abundance
Seawater:
Atlantic surface: 8 x 10-5 ppm
Pacific surface: 8 x 10-5 ppm
Human:
Uses
Nitrogen has many industrial uses in the gaseous forms, but probably the most
interesting is liquid nitrogen, which is extremely cold. Items that must be frozen to
extremely low temperatures for preservation are frequently stored in liquid nitrogen.
Fertility clinics store sperm, eggs and embryos used to help infertile couples become
pregnant in ampoules in liquid nitrogen. Since nitrogen gas is very stable, at standard
temperature and pressure, it is used as the air in inert welding atmospheres.
Documents, foods and chemicals are sometimes stored in nitrogen to keep them from
oxidizing or reacting with air or water.
Notes
Nitrogen is the largest single component of the Earth's atmosphere (78.084% by
volume, 75.5% by weight).
Nitrogen in the elemental form was considered to be inert and was even named ozote
which refers to the fact that it is not reactive. Of course nitrogen does form compounds,
but the gaseous form consists of diamers (2 nitrogens bonded together). The diamer is
very stable.
Nitrogen is a major element in organic compounds, especially proteins. Some nitrogen
compounds are highly reactive. Trinitrotoluene is TNT or dynamite. Ammonium Nitrate is
a fertilizer, but was used as the major explosive ingredient in the Oklahoma City
bombing. Anfo, or Ammonium Nitrate and fuel oil mixture is the primary explosive used
in the mining industry because it is inexpensive, easy to manufacture and can be easily
manufactured near the mine site thus reducing the risks and expenses related to the
transportation of explosives. Nitrates, Nitrites and Azides (all nitrogen compounds are
either oxidizers or reactives and will react violently under the right conditions.
The triple bond in molecular nitrogen (N2) is one of the strongest in nature. The resulting
difficulty of converting (N2) into other compounds, and the ease (and associated high
energy release) of converting nitrogen compounds into elemental N2, have dominated
the role of nitrogen in both nature and human economic activities.
Hazards
Rapid release of nitrogen gas into an enclosed space can displace oxygen, and therefore
represents an asphyxiation hazard. Nitrogen also dissolves in the bloodstream, and rapid
decompression (particularly in the case of divers ascending too quickly) can lead to a
potentially fatal condition called decompression sickness, when nitrogen bubbles form in
the bloodstream. It can also cause nitrogen narcosis.
Oxygen [O]
CAS-ID: 7782-44-7
An: 8 N: 8
Am: 15.9994 (3) g/mol
Group No: 16
Group Name: Chalcogen
State: gas at 298 K
Colour: colourless as a gas, liquid is pale blue Classification: Non-metallic
Density: 1.429g/l
Who: Joseph Priestley, Karl Wilhelm Scheele
When: 1774
Where: England/Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: oxus (acid) and gennan (generate).
"Oxygen" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained primarily from by liquification and then fractional distillation of the air. World
wide production is around 100 million tons.
Abundance
Carbonaceous meteorite: 4.1 x 105 ppm
Atmosphere: 2.095 x 105 ppm
Earth's Crust: 4.74 x 105 ppm
Human:
Uses
Used in steel making, production of methanol (CH3OH), welding, water purification,
cement and rocket propulsion. It is also required for supporting life and combustion.
Oxygen is a major component of air, produced by plants during photosynthesis, and is
necessary for aerobic respiration in animals.
History
Oxygen was first described by Michal Sedziwoj, a Polish alchemist and philosopher in the
late 16th century. Sedziwoj thought of the gas given off by warm niter (saltpeter) as
"the elixir of life".
Oxygen was more quantitatively discovered by the Swedish pharmacist Karl Wilhelm
Scheele some time before 1773, but the discovery was not published until after the
independent discovery by Joseph Priestley on August 1, 1774, who called the gas
dephlogisticated air. Priestley published discoveries in 1775 and Scheele in 1777;
consequently Priestley is usually given the credit. Both Scheele and Priestley produced
oxygen by heating mercuric oxide.
Scheele called the gas 'fire air' because it was the only known supporter of combustion.
It was later called 'vital air' because it was and is vital for the existence of animal life.
The gas was named by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, after Priestley's publication in 1775,
from Greek roots meaning "acid-former". As noted, the name reflects the then-common
incorrect belief that all acids contain oxygen. This is also the origin of the Japanese
name of oxygen "sanso" (san=acid, so=element).
Oxygen was first time condensed in 1883 by professors of Jagiellonian University -
Zygmunt Wroblewski (Polish chemist) Karol Olszewski (Polish physicist and chemist).
Notes
Liquid and solid O2 are both a light blue colour. Ozone (O3) is a deeper blue colour.
Oxygen is the second most common element on Earth, composing around 46% of the
mass of Earth's crust (the most common element) and 28% of the mass of Earth as a
whole, and is the third most common element in the universe. Forms almost 21% of
atmosphere.
Hazards
Certain derivatives of oxygen, such as ozone (O3), singlet oxygen, hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2), hydroxyl radicals and superoxide (O2-), are highly toxic. Highly concentrated
sources of oxygen promote rapid combustion and therefore are fire and explosion
hazards in the presence of fuels.
Fluorine [F]
CAS-ID: 7782-41-4
An: 9 N: 10
Am: 18.9984032 (5) g/mol
Group No: 17
Group Name: Halogen
State: gas at 298 K
Colour: pale yellow Classification: Non-metallic
Critical temperature: 144K (-129°C)
Density: 1.7g/l
Who: Henri Moissan
When: 1886
Where: France
Name Origin
Latin: fluo (flow).
"Fluorine" in different languages.
Sources
Found in the minerals fluorite (CaF2), cryolite (Na2AlF6) and fluorapatite (Ca5(PO4)3F).
Abundance
Seawater:
Pacific deep: 4 x 10-5 ppm
Human:
37000 ppb by weight
12000 ppb by atoms
Uses
Combines more readily than any other element. Used in toothpaste as sodium fluoride
(NaF) and stannous fluoride (SnF2); also in Teflon.
Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is used to etch glass in light bulbs and other products.
Fluorochlorohydrocarbons are used extensively in air conditioning and in refrigeration.
Chlorofluorocarbons have been banned for these applications because they contribute to
the ozone hole. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is an extremely inert and nontoxic gas, and a
member of a class of compounds that are potent greenhouse gases.
History
Fluorine in the form of fluorspar (also called fluorite (CaF2)) (calcium fluoride) was
described in 1530 by Georgius Agricola for its use as a flux, which is a substance that is
used to promote the fusion of metals or minerals. In 1670 Schwanhard found that glass
was etched when it was exposed to fluorspar that was treated with acid. Karl Wilhelm
Scheele and many later researchers, including Humphry Davy, Gay-Lussac, Antoine
Lavoisier, and Louis Thenard all would experiment with hydrofluoric acid, easily obtained
by treating calcium fluoride (fluorspar) with concentrated sulfuric acid.
It was eventually realized that hydrofluoric acid contained a previously unknown
element. This element was not isolated for many years after this, due to its extreme
reactivity; fluorine can only be prepared from its compounds electrolytically, and then it
immediately attacks any susceptible materials in the area. Finally, in 1886, elemental
fluorine was isolated by Henri Moissan after almost 74 years of continuous effort by
other chemists. It was an effort which cost several researchers their health or even their
lives. The derivation of elemental fluorine from hydrofluoric acid is exceptionally
dangerous, killing or blinding several scientists who attempted early experiments on this
halogen. These men came to be referred to as "fluorine martyrs." For Moissan, it earned
him the 1906 Nobel Prize in chemistry (Moissan himself lived to be 54, and it is not clear
whether his fluorine work shortened his life).
The first large-scale production of fluorine was needed for the atomic bomb Manhattan
project in World War II where the compound uranium hexafluoride (UF6) was needed as
a gaseous carrier of uranium to separate the 235U and 238U isotopes of uranium. Today
both the gaseous diffusion process and the gas centrifuge process use gaseous UF6 to
produce enriched uranium for nuclear power applications. In the Manhattan Project, it
was found that elemental fluorine was present whenever UF6 was, due to the
spontaneous decomposition of this compound into UF4 and F2. The corrosion problem
due to the F2 was eventually solved by electrolytically coating all UF6 carrying piping with
nickel metal, which resists fluorine's attack. Joints and flexible parts were made from
Teflon, then a very recently-discovered fluorine-containing plastic which was not
attacked by F2.
Notes
The derivation of elemental fluorine from hydrofluoric acid is exceptionally dangerous,
killing or blinding several scientists who attempted early experiments on this halogen.
These men came to be referred to as "Fluorine Martyrs."
Hazards
Pure fluorine is a very reactive and corrosive gas, with a pungent odour. Both fluorine
and HF must be handled with great care and any contact with skin and eyes should be
strictly avoided. Contact with exposed skin may result in the HF molecule rapidly
migrating through the skin and flesh into the bone where it reacts with calcium
permanently damaging the bone, followed by cardiac arrest brought on by sudden
chemical changes within the body.
Even in dark, cool conditions, fluorine reacts explosively with hydrogen. It is so reactive
that glass, metals, and even water, as well as other substances, burn with a bright
flame in a jet of fluorine gas.
Neon [Ne]
CAS-ID: 7440-01-9
An: 10 N: 10
Am: 20.1797 g/mol
Group No: 18
State: gas at 298 K
Density: 0.9002g/l
Who: Sir William Ramsay, M.W. Travers
When: 1898
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: neos (new).
"Neon" in different languages.
Sources
It can be prepared by liquification of air and separated from other elements by fractional
distillation.
Neon is actually abundant on a universal scale: the fifth most abundant chemical
element in the universe by mass, after hydrogen, helium, oxygen, and carbon. Its
relative rarity on Earth, like that of helium, is due to its relative lightness and chemical
inertness, both properties keeping it from being trapped in the condensing gas and dust
clouds of the formation of smaller and warmer solid planets like Earth.
Abundance
Atmosphere: 14 ppm
Earth's Crust: 3 x 10-3 ppm
Seawater: 1.2 x 10-4 ppm
Uses
In a vacuum tube, neon glows reddish orange, thus, the invention of neon lights. Neon
has also been used to make lightening arrestors, voltage detectors and TV tubes.
Liquefied neon is commercially used as an economical cryogenic refrigerant.
History
Neon was discovered in 1898 by Scottish chemist William Ramsay and English chemist
Morris W. Travers in London, England. Neon was discovered when Ramsay chilled a
sample of the atmosphere until it became a liquid, then warmed the liquid and captured
the gases as they boiled off. The three gases were krypton, xenon, and neon.
Notes
While it is inert, there have been reports of it combining with fluorine. Neon may also
form ions in combination with other noble gases (NeAr, HeNe, Ne2 and with hydrogen
(NeH). It also forms an unstable hydrate, so it is not nearly as inert as one might think.
In a vacuum discharge tube, neon glows reddish orange. Of all the rare gases, the
discharge of neon is the most intense at ordinary voltages and currents. It is present in
the atmosphere as 1 part in 65000.
Liquid neon has over 40 times more refrigerating capacity than liquid helium, and more
than 3 times that of liquid hydrogen.
Sodium [Na]
CAS-ID: 7440-23-5
An: 11 N: 12
Am: 22.989770 g/mol
Group No: 1
Colour: silvery white Classification: Metallic
Density: 0.968g/cm3
Who: Sir Humphrey Davy
When: 1807
Where: England
Name Origin
From soda; Na from Latin natrium.
"Sodium" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained by electrolysis of melted sodium chloride (salt), borax and cryolite (Na3AlF6).
Sodium makes up 2.6% by weight of the Earth's crust, making it the fourth most
abundant element overall and the most abundant alkali metal.
Primary producers are Germany, Poland, Kenya and the USA. 200 thousand tons of
sodium metal are produced every year; salt (NaCl) around 168 million tons and sodium
carbonate around 29 million tons.
Abundance
Seawater: 11500 ppm
Human:
Uses
Used in medicine, agriculture and photography. Liquid sodium is sometimes used to cool
nuclear reactors. Also used in street lights, soap, batteries, table salt (NaCl) (a
compound vital to life) , and glass.
History
Sodium (the English word for which is soda) has long been recognized in compounds,
but was not isolated until 1807 by Sir Humphry Davy through the electrolysis of caustic
soda. In medieval Europe a compound of sodium with the Latin name of sodanum was
used as a headache remedy.
Sodium's chemical abbreviation Na was first published by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in his
system of atomic symbols (Thomas Thomson's Annals of Philosophy) and is a
contraction of the element's new Latin name natrium which refers to natron, a natural
mineral salt whose primary ingredient is hydrated sodium carbonate and which
historically had several important industrial and household uses later eclipsed by soda
ash, baking soda and other sodium compounds.
Sodium imparts an intense yellow colour to flames. As early as 1860, Kirchhoff and
Bunsen noted the high sensitivity that a flame test for sodium could give.
Notes
Sodium comes from the English word "soda" and from medieval Latin sodanum which
means headache remedy. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element on earth
comprising 2.6% of the earth's crust. It is the most abundant of the alkali metals. It
never exists in nature, but is prepared by electrolysis of absolutely dry fused sodium
chloride. Sodium chloride is common table salt which is important in animal nutrition.
Other important forms of sodium are soda ash (Na2CO3), baking soda (NaHCO3), Chili
saltpeter (NaNO3) which is sodium nitrate. In nature sodium is found in soda niter,
cryolite (Na3AlF6), amphibole and zeolite.
Sodium ions are necessary for regulation of blood and body fluids, transmission of nerve
impulses, heart activity, and certain metabolic functions. It is widely considered that
most people in Western countries consume more than is needed, in the form of sodium
chloride, or table salt, and that this can have a negative effect on health.
Hazards
Sodium's metallic form is highly explosive in water and is a poison when uncombined
with other elements. The powdered form may combust spontaneously in air or oxygen.
This metal should be handled carefully at all times. Sodium must be stored either in an
inert atmosphere, or under a liquid hydrocarbon such as mineral oil or kerosene.
The reaction of sodium and water is a familiar one in chemistry labs, and is reasonably
safe if amounts of sodium smaller than a pencil eraser are used, and the reaction is
done behind a plastic shield glass by people wearing eye protection. However, the
sodium-water reaction does not scale well, and is treacherous when larger amounts of
sodium are used. Larger pieces of sodium melt under the heat of the reaction, and the
molten ball of metal is buoyed up by hydrogen and appears to be stably reacting with
water until splashing covers more of the reaction mass, causing thermal runaway and an
explosion which scatters molten sodium and lye.
There are only a very few materials that will put out a sodium metal fire, like Pyromet
and Met-L-X. Pyromet is a NaCl/(NH4)2HPO4 mix, with flow/anti-clump agents. It
smoothers the fire, drains away heat, and melts to form an impermeable crust. This is
the standard dry-powder cannister fire extingusher for all classes of fires. Met-L-X is
mostly just NaCl, with about 5 % Saran as a crust-former, and a couple of flow/anti-
clump agents, and is most commonly hand-applied with a scoop. There are also other
exreme fire extinguishing materials - lith-X is a graphite based dry powder with an
organophosphate flame retardant, and Na-X is a Na2CO3-based material.
Magnesium [Mg]
CAS-ID: 7439-95-4
An: 12 N: 13
Am: 24.3050 g/mol
Group No: 2
Density: 1.738g/cm3
Availability: Magnesium is the eight most abundant element in the Earth's crust, about
2% by weight.
When: 1808
Where: England
Name Origin
From Magnesia ancient city in Asia Minor.
"Magnesium" in different languages.
Sources
Although magnesium is found in over 60 minerals, only dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2),
magnesite (MgCO3), brucite (Mg(OH)2), carnallite (KMgCl3 - 6(H2O)), talc, and olivine
((Mg,Fe)2SiO4) are of commercial importance. Usually obtained by electrolysis of melted
magnesium chloride found in sea water.
China produces around 60% of the world's magnesium, other important producers are
Austria, Poland, Russia, the USA, India, Greece and Canada. Annual production is
around 350 thousand tons.
Abundance
Seawater: 1200 ppm
Human:
270000 ppb by weight
70000 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in alloys to make airplanes, missiles, car engine parts, racing bikes and other
things that need light metals. Also used in fireplace bricks, flashbulbs, pigments and
filters. Magnesium powder is still used in the manufacture of fireworks and marine flares
where a brilliant white light is required.
Magnesium oxide and other compounds also are used in agricultural, chemical, and
construction industries. As a metal, this element's principal use is as an alloying additive
to aluminium with these aluminium-magnesium alloys being used mainly for beverage
cans.
Magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) powder is also used by athletes, such as gymnasts and
weightlifters, to improve the grip on objects - the apparatus or lifting bar.
Magnesium stearate is a slightly flammable white powder with lubricative properties. In
pharmaceutical technology it is used in the manufacturing of tablets, to prevent the
tablets from sticking to the equipment during the tablet compression process (i.e., when
the tablet's substance is pressed into tablet form).
History
The name originates from the Greek word for a district in Thessaly called Magnesia. It is
related to magnetite (Fe3O4) and manganese, which also originated from this area, and
required differentiation as separate substances. See manganese for this history.
Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust. It is found in large
deposits of magnesite, dolomite, and other minerals, and in mineral waters, where
magnesium ion is soluble. In 1618 a farmer at Epsom in England attempted to give his
cows water from a well. This they refused to drink because of the water's bitter taste.
However the farmer noticed that the water seemed to heal scratches and rashes. The
fame of Epsom salts spread. Eventually they were recognised to be hydrated magnesium
sulphate, MgSO4.
Sir Humphry Davy electrolytically isolated pure magnesium metal in 1808 from a mix of
magnesia and HgO, and A. A. B. Bussy prepared it in coherent form in 1831. Davy's first
suggestion for a name was magnium, but the name magnesium is now used.
Notes
Organic magnesium is important in both plant and animal life.
Hazards
Magnesium metal and alloys are highly flammable in their pure form when molten, as a
powder, or in ribbon form. Burning or molten magnesium metal reacts violently with
water. Once ignited it is difficult to extinguish, being able to burn in both nitrogen
(forming magnesium nitride), and carbon dioxide (forming magnesium oxide and
carbon). Magnesium powder is an explosion hazard.
Magnesium reacts violently with halogens.
Aluminium [Al]
CAS-ID: 7429-90-5
An: 13 N: 14
Am: 26.981538 (2) g/mol
Group No: 13
Group Name: Metals
Colour: silvery Classification: Metallic
Density: 2.70g/cm3
Who: Hans Christian Oersted
When: 1825
Where: Denmark
Name Origin
Latin: alumen (alun).
"Aluminium" in different languages.
Sources
Most plentiful metal in earth's crust (7.5% - 8.1%), but virtually never occurs in free
form, so rare that it was once considered a precious metal more valuable than gold!
Obtained by electrolysis from bauxite (Al2O2).
Primary reserves are found in Surinam, Jamaica, Ghana, Indonesia and Russia. Annual
production is around 15 million tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
900 ppb by weight
210 ppb by atoms
Uses
Kitchen utensils, building decorations, electrical transmission (not nearly as conductive
as copper, but cheaper) as well as packaging (can, foil etc.). Aluminium alloys form vital
components of aircraft and rockets as a result of their high strength to weight ratio.
Alloys containing copper, magnesium, silicon, manganese and other metals are much
stronger and more durable than aluminium, making aluminium useful in the
manufacture of aircraft and rockets.
Most electronic appliances that require cooling of their internal devices (like transistors,
CPUs - semiconductors in general) have heat sinks that are made of aluminium due to
its ease of manufacture and good heat conductivity. Copper heat sinks are smaller
although more expensive and harder to manufacture.
Aluminium oxide (Al2O3), alumina, is found naturally as corundum (rubies and
sapphires), emery, and is used in glass making. Synthetic ruby and sapphire are used in
lasers.
Powdered aluminium is a commonly used silvering agent in paint. Aluminium flakes may
also be included in undercoat paints, particularly wood primer - on drying, the flakes
overlap to produce a water resistant barrier.
History
The ancient Greeks and Romans used aluminium salts as dyeing mordants and as
astringents for dressing wounds. In 1761 Guyton de Morveau suggested calling the base
alum alumine. In 1808, Humphry Davy identified the existence of a metal base of alum,
which he at first named alumium and later aluminum.
Friedrich Wöhler is generally credited with isolating aluminium (Latin alumen, alum) in
1827 by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium. The metal, however, had
indeed been produced for the first time two years earlier - but in an impure form - by
the Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Orsted. Therefore, Orsted can also be
listed as the discoverer of the metal. Further, Pierre Berthier discovered aluminium in
bauxite ore and successfully extracted it. The Frenchman Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire
Deville improved Wöhler's method in 1846 and described his improvements in a book in
1859, chief among these being the substitution of sodium for the considerably more
expensive potassium.
Aluminium was selected as the material to be used for the apex of the Washington
Monument, at a time when one ounce (30 grams) cost twice the daily wages of a
common worker in the project; aluminium was a semiprecious metal at that time.
Notes
It is the second most malleable metal (gold being first) and the sixth most ductile.
Hazards
Aluminium is one of the few abundant elements that appears to have no beneficial
function in living cells, but a few percent of people are allergic to it - they experience
contact dermatitis from any form of it: an itchy rash from using antiperspirant products,
digestive disorders and inability to absorb nutrients from eating food cooked in
aluminium pans.
Aluminium powder is flammable. Reacts very exothermically with halogens.
Silicon [Si]
CAS-ID: 7440-21-3
An: 14 N: 14
Am: 28.0855 g/mol
Group No: 14
Colour: dark grey with a bluish tinge Classification: Semi-metallic
Density: 2.33g/cm3
Who: Jons Berzelius
When: 1823
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Latin silex, or silicis (meaning what were more generally termed "the flints" or "hard
rocks" during the Early Modern era where nowadays we would say "silica" or "silicates")
"Silicon" in different languages.
Sources
Silicon is the second most abundant element and comprises 25.7% of the earth's crust
(oxygen is first). Makes up major portion of clay, granite, feldspar, mica, asbestos,
quartz (SiO2), and sand.
Primary producers are Austria, Italy, India, South Africa, Australia, Canada, the USA and
Brazil. Every year around 5000 tons of electronics grade silicon is produced.
Abundance
Earth's Crust: 2.771 x 105 ppm
Seawater:
Atlantic surface: 0.03 ppm
Atlantic deep: 0.82 ppm
Pacific surface: 0.03 ppm
Pacific deep: 4.09 ppm
Human:
260000 ppb by weight
58000 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in glass as silicon dioxide (SiO2). It is used as a semiconductor to make microchips
for electronics (like your computer). Silicon is also used in solar cells, tools, cement,
LCDs, grease and oils.
History
Silicon (Latin silex, silicis for flint, flint's) was first identified by Antoine Lavoisier in
1787, and was later mistaken by Humphry Davy in 1800 for a compound. In 1811 Gay-
Lussac and Thenard probably prepared impure amorphous silicon through the heating of
potassium with silicon tetrafluoride. In 1824, Berzelius prepared amorphous silicon using
approximately the same method as Lussac. Berzelius also purified the product by
repeatedly washing it.
Notes
Silicon carbide (SiC) is one of the hardest substances known.
Hazards
Fine powder is highly flammable.
A serious lung disease known as silicosis often occurred in miners, stonecutters, and
others who were engaged in work where siliceous dust was inhaled in great quantities.
Phosphorus [P]
CAS-ID: 7723-14-0
An: 15 N: 16
Am: 30.973761 g/mol
Group No: 15
Colour: colourless/red/silvery white Classification: Non-metallic
Density: (white) 1.823g/cm3
Density: (red) 2.34g/cm3
Density: (black) 2.69g/cm3
Who: Hennig Brand
When: 1669
Where: Germany
Name Origin
Greek: phos (light) and phoros (bearer).
"Phosphorus" in different languages.
Sources
Due to its high reactivity, it is never found as a free element in nature. Found most often
in phosphate rock, which is partly made of apatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH, F, Cl)).
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
Uses
Used in the production of fertilizers, fireworks, matches, pesticides, toothpaste and
detergents. White phosphrous is used in military applications as incendiary bombs and
for smoke screens. Calcium phosphate is used in the production of fine China.
It an important component in steel production, in the making of phosphor bronze, and in
many other related products. Red phosphorus is essential for manufacturing matchbook
strikers, flares, and, most notoriously, methamphetamine.
History
Phosphorus (Greek phosphoros was the ancient name for the planet Venus, but in Greek
mythology, Hesperus and Eosphorus could be confused with Phosphorus) was discovered
by German alchemist Hennig Brand in 1669 through a preparation from urine, which
naturally contains considerable quantities of dissolved phosphates from normal
metabolism. Working in Hamburg, Brand attempted to distill some salts by evaporating
urine, and in the process produced a white material that glowed in the dark and burned
brilliantly. Since that time, phosphorescence has been used to describe substances that
shine in the dark without burning.
Phosphorus was first made commercially, for the match industry, in the 19th century, by
distilling off phosphorus vapour from precipitated phosphates heated in a retort. The
precipitated phosphates were made from ground-up bones that had been de-greased
and treated with strong acids. This process became obsolete in the late 1890s when the
electric arc furnace was adapted to reduce phosphate rock.
Early matches used white phosphorus in their composition, which was dangerous due to
its toxicity. Murders, suicides and accidental poisonings resulted from its use. (An
apocryphal tale tells of a woman attempting to murder her husband with white
phosphorus in his food, which was detected by the stew giving off luminous steam). In
addition, exposure to the vapours gave match workers a necrosis of the bones of the
jaw, the infamous "phossy jaw." When a safe process for manufacturing red phosphorus
was discovered, with its far lower flammability and toxicity, laws were enacted, under a
Berne Convention, requiring its adoption as a safer alternative for match manufacture.
The electric furnace method allowed production to increase to the point phosphorus
could be used in weapons of war. In World War I it was used in incendiaries, smoke
screens and tracer bullets. A special incendiary bullet was developed to shoot at
hydrogen filled Zeppelins over Britain (hydrogen of course being highly flammable if it
can be ignited). During World War II Molotov cocktails of benzene and phosphorus were
distributed in Britain to specially selected civilians within the British Resistance
Operation, for defence; and phosphorus incendiary bombs were used in War on a large
scale. Burning phosphorus is difficult to extinguish and if it splashes onto human skin it
has horrific effects (see precautions below). People covered in it were known to commit
suicide due to the torment.
Today phosphorus production is larger than ever, used as a precursor for various
chemicals, in particular the herbicide glyphosate sold under the brand name Roundup.
Production of white phosphorus takes place at large facilities and is transported heated
in liquid form. Some major accidents have occurred during transportation, train
derailments at Brownston, Nebraska and Miamisburg, Ohio lead to large fires. The worst
accident in recent times though was an environmental one in 1968 when phosphorus
spilt into the sea from a plant at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.
Notes
Phosphorus exists in three allotropic forms: white, red, and black. The most common are
red and white phosphorus. White phosphorus burns on contact with air and on exposure
to heat or light.
Phosphorus is a key element in all known forms of life. Living cells also utilize phosphate
to transport cellular energy via adenosine triphosphate (ATP). An average person
contains a little less than 1 kg of phosphorus, about three quarters of which is present in
bones and teeth in the form of apatite. Phosphate salts are used by animals to stiffen
their bones.
Hazards
Just 50mg of phosphorus is considered a lethal dose. The allotrope white phosphorus
should be kept under water at all times as it presents a significant fire hazard due to its
extreme reactivity to atmospheric oxygen, and it should only be manipulated with
forceps since contact with skin can cause severe burns.
Sulfur [S]
CAS-ID: 7704-34-9
An: 16 N: 16
Am: 32.065 g/mol
Group No: 16
Colour: lemon yellow Classification: Non-metallic
Boiling Point: 717.87K (444.72°C)
Density: (alpha) 2.08g/cm3
Density: (beta) 1.96g/cm3
Density: (gamma) 1.92g/cm3
Who: Known to the ancients. Homer mentioned "pest-averting sulfur" in the 8th century
BC.
Name Origin
Latin: sulfur (brimstone).
"Sulfur" in different languages.
Sources
Found in pure form (near hot springs and in volcanic regions) and in ores like cinnabar
(HgS), galena (PbS), alunite, barite (BaSO4), sphalerite (ZnS) and stibnite (Sb2S3).
Primary producers are the USA and Spain. Around 54 million tons are produced
annually.
Abundance
Seawater: 928 ppm
Human:
2 x 106 ppb by weight
Uses
Used in matches, gunpowder, detergents, fireworks, batteries, fungicides, vulcanization
of rubber, medicines, permanent wave lotion and pesticides. Its most important use is
probably that of sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Sulfites are used to bleach paper and as a
preservative in wine and dried fruit. Sodium or ammonium thiosulfate are used as
photographic fixing agents. Magnesium sulfate, better known as Epsom salts, can be
used as a laxative, a bath additive, an exfoliant, or a magnesium supplement for plants.
History
Homer mentioned "pest-averting sulfur" in the 8th century BC and in 424 BC, the tribe
of Boeotia destroyed the walls of a city by burning a mixture of coal, sulfur, and tar
under them.
Sulfur was known in China since the 6th century BC, in a natural form that the Chinese
had called 'brimstone', or shiliuhuang that was found in Hanzhong. By the 3rd century,
the Chinese discovered that sulfur could be extracted from pyrite. Chinese Daoists were
interested in sulfur's flammability and its reactivity with certain metals, yet its earliest
practical uses were found in traditional Chinese medicine. A Song Dynasty military
treatise of 1044 AD described different formulas for Chinese gun powder, which is a
mixture of potassium nitrate (KNO3), carbon, and sulfur. Early alchemists gave sulfur its
own alchemical symbol which was a triangle at the top of a cross.
In the late 1770s, Antoine Lavoisier helped convince the scientific community that sulfur
was an element and not a compound. In 1867, sulfur was discovered in underground
deposits in Louisiana and Texas. The overlying layer of earth was quicksand, prohibiting
ordinary mining operations. Therefore the Frasch process was utilized.
Notes
The distinctive colours of Jupiter's volcanic moon, Io, are from various forms of molten,
solid and gaseous sulfur. Sulfur has also been found in many types of meteorite.
Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), is well known for its smell of rotten eggs!
Hazards
Carbon disulfide, carbon oxysulfide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) should all
be handled with care.
Although sulfur dioxide is sufficiently safe to be used as a food additive in small
amounts, at high concentrations it reacts with moisture to form sulfurous acid which in
sufficient quantities may harm the lungs, eyes or other tissues. In creatures without
lungs such as insects or plants, it otherwise prevents respiration.
Hydrogen sulfide is quite toxic (more toxic than cyanide). Although very pungent at first,
it quickly deadens the sense of smell, so potential victims may be unaware of its
presence until it is too late.
Chlorine [Cl]
CAS-ID: 7782-50-5
An: 17 N: 18
Am: 35.453 g/mol
Group No: 17
Group Name: Halogen
State: gas at 298 K
Colour: yellowish green Classification: Non-metallic
Density: 3.2g/l
Who: Karl Wilhelm Scheele
When: 1774
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: khloros (green).
"Chlorine" in different languages.
Sources
Never found in free form in nature. Salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) is its most common
compound. Chlorides make up much of the salt dissolved in the Earth's oceans - about
1.9% of the mass of seawater is chloride ions.
Abundance
Seawater: 18000 ppm
Human:
Uses
Used widely in paper product production, antiseptic, dyestuffs, food, insecticides, paints,
petroleum products, plastics, medicines, textiles, solvents, and many other consumer
products.
Chlorine is an important chemical in some processes of water purification, disinfectants
and in bleaches and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).
History
Chlorine was discovered in 1774 by Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele, who called it
dephlogisticated muriatic acid and mistakenly thought it contained oxygen. Chlorine was
given its current name in 1810 by Sir Humphry Davy, who insisted that it was in fact an
element.
Chlorine gas, also known as bertholite, was first used as a weapon in World War I by
Germany on April 22, 1915 in the Second Battle of Ypres. As described by the soldiers it
had a distinctive smell of a mixture between pepper and pineapple. It also tasted
metallic and stung the back of the throat and chest. It was pioneered by a German
scientist later to be a Nobel laureate, Fritz Haber. It is alleged that his role in the use of
chlorine as a deadly weapon drove his wife to suicide. After its first use, it was utilized
by both sides as a chemical weapon.
Notes
The pure chemical element has the physical form of a diatomic yellow-green gas, Cl2.
Chlorine combines readily with nearly all other elements. Chlorine is about two and a
half times as heavy as air.
Hazards
Chlorine irritates respiratory systems especially in children and the elderly. In its
gaseous state it irritates mucous membranes and in its liquid state it burns skin. As little
as 3.5 ppm (parts per million) can be detected as an odour, and 1000 ppm is likely to be
fatal after a few deep breaths.
Toxic fumes may be produced when bleach is mixed with urine, ammonia (NH3),
hydrochloric acid (HCl), or another cleaning product. These fumes consist of a mixture of
chlorine gas, chloramine and nitrogen trichloride; therefore these combinations should
be avoided.
Over 2000 naturally-occurring organic chlorine compounds are known.
Chlorine is very toxic to aquatic organisms.
Chlorine [Cl]
CAS-ID: 7782-50-5
An: 17 N: 18
Am: 35.453 g/mol
Group No: 17
Group Name: Halogen
State: gas at 298 K
Colour: yellowish green Classification: Non-metallic
Density: 3.2g/l
When: 1774
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: khloros (green).
"Chlorine" in different languages.
Sources
Never found in free form in nature. Salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) is its most common
compound. Chlorides make up much of the salt dissolved in the Earth's oceans - about
1.9% of the mass of seawater is chloride ions.
Abundance
Seawater: 18000 ppm
Human:
Uses
Used widely in paper product production, antiseptic, dyestuffs, food, insecticides, paints,
petroleum products, plastics, medicines, textiles, solvents, and many other consumer
products.
Chlorine is an important chemical in some processes of water purification, disinfectants
and in bleaches and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).
History
Chlorine was discovered in 1774 by Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele, who called it
dephlogisticated muriatic acid and mistakenly thought it contained oxygen. Chlorine was
given its current name in 1810 by Sir Humphry Davy, who insisted that it was in fact an
element.
Chlorine gas, also known as bertholite, was first used as a weapon in World War I by
Germany on April 22, 1915 in the Second Battle of Ypres. As described by the soldiers it
had a distinctive smell of a mixture between pepper and pineapple. It also tasted
metallic and stung the back of the throat and chest. It was pioneered by a German
scientist later to be a Nobel laureate, Fritz Haber. It is alleged that his role in the use of
chlorine as a deadly weapon drove his wife to suicide. After its first use, it was utilized
by both sides as a chemical weapon.
Notes
The pure chemical element has the physical form of a diatomic yellow-green gas, Cl2.
Chlorine combines readily with nearly all other elements. Chlorine is about two and a
half times as heavy as air.
Hazards
Chlorine irritates respiratory systems especially in children and the elderly. In its
gaseous state it irritates mucous membranes and in its liquid state it burns skin. As little
as 3.5 ppm (parts per million) can be detected as an odour, and 1000 ppm is likely to be
fatal after a few deep breaths.
Toxic fumes may be produced when bleach is mixed with urine, ammonia (NH3),
hydrochloric acid (HCl), or another cleaning product. These fumes consist of a mixture of
chlorine gas, chloramine and nitrogen trichloride; therefore these combinations should
be avoided.
Over 2000 naturally-occurring organic chlorine compounds are known.
Chlorine is very toxic to aquatic organisms.
Scandium [Sc]
CAS-ID: 7440-20-2
An: 21 N: 24
Am: 44.955910 g/mol
Group No: 3
Group Name: Transition metals
Block: d-block Period: 4
Colour: silvery white, develops a yellowish or pinkish cast when exposed to
air. Classification: Metallic
Superconducting temperature: 0.05K (-273.1°C) (under pressue)
Density: 2.985g/cm3
Who: Lars Nilson
When: 1879
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
From Scandinavia
"Scandium" in different languages.
Sources
Occurs mainly in the minerals thortveitile, thortveitite ((Sc,Y)2Si2O7), gadolinite and
euxenite ((Y,Ca,Ce,U,Th)(Nb,Ta,Ti)2O6), located in Scandinavia and Madagascar. Trace
amounts can be found in over 800 minerals. Also in some tin and tungsten ores.
World production of scandium is in the order of 2,000 kg per year as scandium oxide.
The primary production is 400 kg while the rest is from stockpiles of Russia created
during the cold war. The production of metallic scandium is in the order of 10 kg per
year.
Abundance
Seawater:
Uses
The main application by volume is in aluminium-scandium alloys for the aerospace
industry and for sports equipment (bikes, baseball bats, firearms, etc.) which rely on
high performance materials.
It is also used in high-intensity lights (scandium iodide added to mercury-vapour lamps
produces a highly efficient artificial light source that resembles sunlight and allows good
colour reproduction with TV cameras), lightbulbs, leak detectors and seed germinating
agents.
The original use of scandium-aluminium alloys were in the nose cones of Soviet Union
submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The strength of the resulting nose cone was
enough to enable it to pierce the ice cap without damage, so enabling a missile launch
while still submerged under the Arctic ice cap.
History
Dmitri Mendeleev used his periodic law, in 1869, to predict the existence of, and some
properties of, three unknown elements, including one he called ekaboron .
Lars Fredrick Nilson and his team, apparently unaware of that prediction in the spring of
1879, were looking for rare earth metals. By using spectral analysis, they found a new
element within the minerals euxenite and gadolinite. They named it scandium, from the
Latin Scandia meaning "Scandinavia", and in the process of isolating the scandium, they
processed 10 kilograms of euxenite, producing about 2.0 grams of a very pure scandium
oxide (Sc2O3).
Per Teodor Cleve of Sweden concluded that scandium corresponded well to the hoped-
for ekaboron, and he notified Mendeleev of this in August.
Fischer, Brunger, and Grienelaus prepared metallic scandium for the first time in 1937,
by electrolysis of a eutectic melt of potassium, lithium, and scandium chlorides at a
temperature of 700 to 800°C. Tungsten wires in a pool of liquid zinc were the electrodes
in a graphite crucible. The first pound of 99% pure scandium metal was not produced
until 1960.
Notes
Scandium is not attacked by a 1:1 mixture of nitric acid(HNO3) and 48% HF.
Hazards
Scandium metal power is combustible and presents a fire hazard.
Titanium [Ti]
CAS-ID: 7440-32-6
An: 22 N: 26
Am: 47.867 g/mol
Group No: 4
Colour: silvery metallic Classification: Metallic
Density: 4.506g/cm3
Who: William Gregor
When: 1791
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: titanos (Titans).
"Titanium" in different languages.
Sources
Usually occurs in the minerals ilmenite (FeTiO3) or rutile (TiO2). Also in Titaniferous
magnetite (Fe3O4), titanite (CaTiSiO5), and iron ores. The primary deposits of titanium
ore are in Australia, Scandinavia, North America and Malaysia.
World wide production is around 99 thousand tons.
Abundance
Uses
Titanium is well known for its excellent resistance to corrosion; it is almost as resistant
as platinum, being able to withstand attack by acids, moist chlorine gas, and by
common salt solutions.
Because of its high tensile strength (even at high temperatures), light weight,
extraordinary corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand extreme temperatures,
titanium alloys are used in aircraft (a Boeing 737 contains around 18 tons, a 777 around
58 tons), armour plating, naval ships, spacecraft and missiles. It is used in steel alloys
to reduce grain size and as a deoxidizer, and in stainless steel to reduce carbon content.
Titanium is often alloyed with aluminium (to refine grain size), vanadium, copper (to
harden), iron, manganese, molybdenum and with other metals.
Because it is considered to be physiologically inert, the metal is used in joint
replacement implants such as hip ball and sockets and to make medical equipment and
in pipe/tank lining in food processing. Since titanium is non-ferromagnetic patients with
titanium implants can be safely examined with magnetic resonance imaging, which
makes it convenient for long term implants and surgical instruments for use in image-
guided surgery.
95% of titanium production is consumend in the form of titanium dioxide (TiO2), a white
pigment that covers surfaces very well, is used in paint, rubber, paper and many other
materials. Also used in heat exchangers, airplane motors, bone pins and other things
requiring light weight metals or metals that resist corrosion or high temperatures.
Titanium oxide is used extensively in paints and in suncreens.
Due to excellent resistance to sea water, it is used to make propeller shafts and rigging
and in the heat exchangers of desalination plants and in heater-chillers for salt water
aquariums, and lately diver knives as well.
Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), a colourless liquid, is used to iridize glass and because it
fumes strongly in moist air it is also used to make smoke screens and in skywriting.
History
Titanium was discovered combined in a mineral in Cornwall, England in 1791 by amateur
geologist William Gregor, the then vicar of Creed village. He recognized the presence of
a new element in ilmenite (FeTiO3) when he found black sand by a stream in the nearby
parish of Manaccan and noticed the sand was attracted by a magnet. Analysis of the
sand determined the presence of two metal oxides; iron oxide (explaining the attraction
to the magnet) and 45.25% of a white metallic oxide he could not identify. Gregor,
realizing that the unidentified oxide contained a metal that did not match the properties
of any known element, reported his findings to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall
and in the German science journal Crell's Annalen.
Around the same time, Franz Joseph Muller also produced a similar substance, but could
not identify it. The oxide was independently rediscovered in 1795 by German chemist
Martin Heinrich Klaproth in rutile from Hungary. Klaproth found that it contained a new
element and named it for the Titans of Greek mythology. After hearing about Gregor's
earlier discovery, he obtained a sample of manaccanite and confirmed it contained
titanium.
The processes required to extract titanium from its various ores are laborious and
costly; it is not possible to reduce in the normal manner, by heating in the presence of
carbon, because that produces titanium carbide. Pure metallic titanium (99.9%) was
first prepared in 1910 by Matthew A. Hunter by heating TiCl4 with sodium in a steel
bomb at 700 - 800°C in the Hunter process. Titanium metal was not used outside the
laboratory until 1946 when William Justin Kroll proved that it could be commercially
produced by reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium in what came to be known
as the Kroll process. Although research continues into more efficient and cheaper
processes (FFC Cambridge, e.g.), the Kroll process is still used for commercial
production.
Titanium of very high purity was made in small quantities when Anton Eduard van Arkel
and Jan Hendrik de Boer discovered the iodide, or crystal bar, process in 1925, by
reacting with iodine and decomposing the formed vapours over a hot filament to pure
metal.
Notes
Pure titanium is a lustrous white metal, as strong as steel, 45% lighter, 60% heavier
than aluminium.
Titanium is Latin and refers to the Titans, the first sons of the earth in Mythology. It was
discovered by Gregor in 1791 and named by Klaproth four years later. It was nearly a
hundred years later (1887) when impure titanium was first prepared by Nilson and
Pettersson. About 20 years later Hunter heated Titanium Chloride TiCl4 with sodium in a
steel bomb and isolated 99.6% pure titanium. It is the ninth most abundant element in
the Earth's crust and is also found in meteorites and in the sun. It is found in the ash of
coal, in plants and even in the human body. It occurs in the minerals rutile (TiO2),
ilmenite (FeTiO3) and sphene (CaTiSiO5).
As a compound, it is found as Titanium dioxide TiO2 in star sapphires and rubies (it is
TiO2 that gives them their asterism). It is also found as titanium chloride (TiCl4). When it
is red hot the metal combines with oxygen, and when it reaches 550°C it combines with
chlorine. It also reacts with the other halogens and absorbs hydrogen.
Hazards
As a powder or in the form of metal shavings, titanium metal poses a significant fire
hazard and, when heated in air, an explosion hazard. Water and carbon dioxide-based
methods to extinguish fires are ineffective on burning titanium.
Titanium powder is harmful if inhaled and is also an eye irritant.
Vanadium [V]
CAS-ID: 7440-62-2
An: 23 N: 28
Am: 50.9415 (1) g/mol
Group No: 5
Colour: silvery grey metallic Classification: Metallic
Density: 6.0g/cm3
Availability: Vanadium is available in several forms including foil, granules, powder,
rod, and turnings.
Who: Nils Sefstrom
When: 1830
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
From Vanadis the Scandinavian goddess.
"Vanadium" in different languages.
Sources
Vanadium is never found unbound in nature but it does occur in about 65 different
minerals among which are patronite (VS4), vanadinite [Pb5(VO4)3Cl], and carnotite
[K2(UO2)2(VO4)2.3H2O]. Vanadium is also present in bauxite, and in carbon containing
deposits such as crude oil, coal, oil shale and tar sands. The spectra of vanadium has
also been detected in light from the Sun and some other stars.
Annual world wide production is around 7 thousand tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Atlantic deep: n/a ppm
Human:
30 ppb by weight
4 ppb by atoms
Uses
It is mixed with other metals to make very strong and durable alloys which are used in
construction materials, tools, surgical instruments, springs and jet engines. Vanadium
pentoxide (V2O5) is used as a catalyst in manufacturing sulfuric acid, a dye and colour-
fixer.
Glass coated with vanadium dioxide (VO2) can block infrared radiation (and not visible
light) at some specific temperature.
History
Vanadium was originally discovered by Andres Manuel del Rio (a Spanish-born Mexican
mineralogist) in Mexico City, in 1801. He called it "brown lead" (now named vanadinite,
Pb5(VO4)3Cl). Through experimentation, its colours reminded him of chromium, so he
named the element panchromium. He later renamed this compound erythronium, since
most of the salts turned red when heated. The French chemist Hippolyte Victor Collet-
Descotils incorrectly declared that del Rio's new element was only impure chromium. Del
Rio thought himself to be mistaken and accepted the statement of the French chemist
that was also backed by Del Rio's friend Baron Alexander von Humboldt.
In 1831, Sefstrom of Sweden rediscovered vanadium in a new oxide he found while
working with some iron ores and later that same year Friedrich Wöhler confirmed del
Rio's earlier work. Later, George William Featherstonhaugh, one of the first US
geologists, suggested that the element should be named "rionium" after Del Rio, but this
never happened. Metallic vanadium was isolated by Henry Enfield Roscoe in 1867, who
reduced vanadium(III) chloride VCl3 with hydrogen. The name vanadium comes from
Vanadis, a goddess in Scandinavian mythology, because the element has beautiful
multicoloured chemical compounds
Notes
It is one of the 26 elements commonly found in living things.
Hazards
Powdered metallic vanadium is a fire hazard, and all vanadium compounds are highly
toxic. Vanadium compounds may cause lung cancer if inhaled.
Chromium [Cr]
CAS-ID: 7440-47-3
An: 24 N: 28
Am: 51.9961 g/mol
Group No: 6
Density: 7.15g/cm3
Who: Louis Vauquelin
When: 1797
Where: France
Name Origin
Greek: chroma (colour). Due to the many colourful compounds that can be made from
it.
"Chromium" in different languages.
Sources
Does not occur free in nature. Chromite [Fe,Mg(CrO4)] is its most important mineral.
Chromium ores are mined today in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Finland, India, Kazakihstan
and the Philippines.
Worldwide production in 2006 was 19.2 million tons. Reserves are estimated at over 1
billion tonnes.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
30 ppb by weight
4 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used to make stainless steel. Also used in plating for car parts, magnetic tape, tools,
knives, camouflage paint, stereos, and lasers. It gives rubies and emeralds their colour.
Chromium(VI) oxide (CrO3) is used to manufacture magnetic tape, where its higher
coercivity than iron oxide tapes gives better performance.
History
On 26th July 1761, Johann Gottlob Lehmann found an orange-red mineral in the Ural
Mountains which he named Siberian red lead. Though misidentified as a lead compound
with selenium and iron components, the material was in fact lead chromate with a
formula of PbCrO4, now known as the mineral crocoite (PbCrO4).
In 1770, Peter Simon Pallas visited the same site as Lehmann and found a red "lead"
mineral that had very useful properties as a pigment in paints. The use of Siberian red
lead as a paint pigment developed rapidly. A bright yellow made from crocoite became a
colour in fashion.
In 1797, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin received samples of crocoite ore. He was able to
produce chromium oxide with a chemical formula of CrO3, by mixing crocoite with
hydrochloric acid. In 1798, Vauquelin discovered that he could isolate metallic chromium
by heating the oxide in a charcoal oven. He was also able to detect traces of chromium
in precious gemstones, such as ruby, or emerald. Later this year he successfully isolated
chromium atoms.
During the 1800s chromium was primarily used as a component of paints and in tanning
salts but now metal alloys account for 85% of the use of chromium. The remainder is
used in the chemical industry and refractory and foundry industries.
Hazards
Chromium may act as a carcinogen when in powdered form.
Chromium metal and chromium(III) compounds are not usually considered health
hazards, but hexavalent chromium (chromium VI) compounds can be toxic if orally
ingested or inhaled. The lethal dose of poisonous chromium (VI) compounds is about
one half teaspoon of material. Most chromium (VI) compounds are irritating to eyes,
skin and mucous membranes. Chronic exposure to chromium (VI) compounds can cause
permanent eye injury, unless properly treated. Chromium(VI) is an established human
carcinogen.
World Health Organization recommended maximum allowable concentration in drinking
water for chromium (VI) is 0.05 milligrams per liter.
Manganese [Mn]
CAS-ID: 7439-96-5
An: 25 N: 30
Am: 54.938049 g/mol
Group No: 7
Density: 7.21g/cm3
Who: Johann Gahn
When: 1774
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Latin: mangnes (magnet); Ital. manganese.
"Manganese" in different languages.
Sources
Most abundant ores are pyrolusite (MnO2), braunite (Mn2+Mn3+6SiO12), psilomelane
[(BaH2O)2Mn5O10] and rhodochrosite (MnCO3). Manganese is mined in South Africa,
Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Gabon and Australia. Vast quantities of manganese exist in
manganese nodules on the ocean floor. Attempts to find economically viable methods of
harvesting manganese nodules were abandoned in the 1970s.
Annual production is around 6.2 million tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
200 ppb by weight
23 ppb by atoms
Uses
Manganese is essential to iron and steel production, it also used in some aluminium
alloys. It is also used in making; batteries, axles, rail switches, safes, ploughs and
ceramics.
Manganese is used to decolourize glass (removing the greenish tinge that presence of
iron produces) and, in higher concentration, make violet-coloured glass.
Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) is a potent oxidizer and used in chemistry and in
medicine as a disinfectant.
History
The origin of the name manganese is complex. In ancient times, two black minerals
from Magnesia in what is now modern Greece were both called magnes, but were
thought to differ in gender. The male magnes attracted iron, and was the iron ore we
now know as loadstone or magnetite, and which probably gave us the term magnet. The
female magnes ore did not attract iron, but was used to decolourize glass. This feminine
magnes was later called magnesia, known now in modern times as pyrolusite (MnO2) or
manganese dioxide. This mineral is never magnetic (although manganese itself is
paramagnetic). In the 16th century, it was called manganesum by glassmakers, possibly
as a corruption of two words since alchemists and glassmakers eventually had to
differentiate a magnesia negra (the black ore) from magnesia alba (a white ore, also
from Magnesia, also useful in glassmaking). Mercati called magnesia negra Manganesa,
and finally the metal isolated from it became known as manganese (German: Mangan).
The name magnesia eventually was then used to refer only to the white magnesia alba
(magnesium oxide), which provided the name magnesium for that free element, when it
was eventually isolated, much later.
Manganese compounds were in use in prehistoric times; paints that were pigmented
with manganese dioxide can be traced back 17,000 years. The Egyptians and Romans
used manganese compounds in glass-making, to either remove colour from glass or add
colour to it. Manganese can be found in the iron ores used by the Spartans. Some
speculate that the exceptional hardness of Spartan steels derives from the inadvertent
production of an iron-manganese alloy.
In the 17th century, German chemist Johann Glauber first produced permanganate, a
useful laboratory reagent (although some people believe that it was discovered by
Ignites Kaim in 1770). By the mid-18th century, manganese dioxide was in use in the
manufacture of chlorine (which it produces when mixed with hydrochloric acid (HCl), or
commercially with a mixture of dilute sulfuric acid and sodium chloride). The Swedish
chemist Scheele was the first to recognize that manganese was an element, and his
colleague, Johan Gottlieb Gahn, isolated the pure element in 1774 by reduction of the
dioxide with carbon. Around the beginning of the 19th century, scientists began
exploring the use of manganese in steelmaking, with patents being granted for its use at
the time. In 1816, it was noted that adding manganese to iron made it harder, without
making it any more brittle. In 1837, British academic James Couper noted an association
between heavy exposure to manganese in mines with a form of Parkinson's Disease. In
1912, manganese phosphating electrochemical conversion coatings for protecting
firearms against rust and corrosion were patented in the United States, and have seen
widespread use ever since.
In the 20th century, manganese dioxide has seen wide commercial use as the chief
cathodic material for commercial disposable dry cells and dry batteries of both the
standard (carbon-zinc) and alkaline type.
Notes
More than 25 million tonnes of manganese ores are mined every year, representing 5
million tons of the metal, reserves of manganese are estimated to exceed 3 billion
tonnes.
Hazards
Manganese is one out of three toxic essential trace elements, which means that it is not
only necessary for humans to survive, but it is also toxic when too high concentrations
are present in a human body. When people do not live up to the recommended daily
allowances their health will decrease. But when the uptake is too high health problems
will also occur.
Iron [Fe]
CAS-ID: 7439-89-6
An: 26 N: 30
Am: 55.845 (2) g/mol
Group No: 8
Colour: lustrous, metallic, greyish tinge Classification: Metallic
Density: 7.86g/cm3
Availability: Iron is available in many forms including foil, chips, sheet, wire, granules,
nanosized activated powder, powder, and rod. Small and large samples of iron foil, sheet
and wire (also Iron alloy in foil form and stainless steel alloys in foil, sheet, wire, wire
straight cut lengths, insulated wire, mesh, rod, tube and powder form).
Who: Known to the ancients. The first iron used by mankind, far back in prehistory,
came from meteors. Cast iron was first produced in China about 550 BC, but not in
Europe until the medieval period.
Name Origin
Latin: ferrum (iron).
"Iron" in different languages.
Sources
Ninety percent of all mining of metallic ores is for the extraction of iron! Industrially, iron
is produced starting from iron ores, principally haematite (nominally Fe2O3) and
magnetite (Fe3O4). It makes up about 34% of the of the mass of the Earth's crust. It is
the most abundant heavy metal in the universe, the tenth most abundant element.
Primary sources are China (around 25%), Brazil, Australia and India followed by the
USA, Canada, Sweden, South Africa, Russia and Japan. Annual production in 2005 was
1.544 million tonnes.
Abundance
Seawater:
Atlantic deep: 4 x 10-4 ppm
Human:
60000 ppb by weight
6700 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in steel and other alloys which are used in countless products. It is essential for
animals as it is the chief constituent of hemoglobin which carries oxygen in blood
vessels.
Iron(III) oxides are used in the production of magnetic storage in computers. They are
often mixed with other compounds, and retain their magnetic properties in solution.
History
The first iron used by mankind, far back in prehistory, came from meteors. The smelting
of iron in bloomeries probably began in Anatolia or the Caucasus in the second
millennium BC or the latter part of the preceding one. Cast iron was first produced in
China about 550 BC, but not in Europe until the medieval period. During the medieval
period, means were found in Europe of producing wrought iron from cast iron (in this
context known as pig iron) using finery forges. For all these processes, charcoal was
required as fuel.
Steel (with a smaller carbon content than pig iron but more than wrought iron) was first
produced in antiquity. New methods of producing it by carburizing bars of iron in the
cementation process were devised in the 17th century AD. In the Industrial Revolution,
new methods of producing bar iron without charcoal were devised and these were later
applied to produce steel. In the late 1850s, Henry Bessemer invented a new steelmaking
process, involving blowing air through molten pig iron, to produce mild steel. This and
other 19th century and later processes have led to wrought iron no longer being
produced.
Notes
Iron is the most used of all the metals, comprising 95 percent of all the metal tonnage
produced worldwide.
With the exception of a few bacteria, iron is essential to all living organisms.
Hazards
Iron dust may be harmful if inhaled.
Cobalt [Co]
CAS-ID: 7440-48-4
An: 27 N: 32
Am: 58.933195 g/mol
Group No: 9
Period: 4
Colour: lustrous, metallic, greyish tinge Classification: Metallic
Density: 8.90g/cm3
Who: George Brandt
When: 1737
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
German: kobalt or kobold (evil spirit); Greek: cobalos (mines).
"Cobalt" in different languages.
Sources
Occurs in compounds with arsenic, oxygen and sulfur as in cobaltine (CoAsS) and
linneite (Co3S4). Primary production occurs in Zaire, Morocco, Sweden and Canada.
Annual production is around 17 thousand tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Atlantic surface: n/a ppm
Human:
20 ppb by weight
2 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in many hard alloys; for magnets, ceramics and special glasses. Also used in
permanent magnets, razor blades and catalitic converters.
Cobalt compounds have been used for centuries to impart a rich blue colour to glass,
glazes, and ceramics. Cobalt has been detected in Egyptian sculpture and Persian
jewellery from the third millennium BC, in the ruins of Pompeii (destroyed AD 79), and
in China dating from the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907) and the Ming dynasty (AD 1368-
1644).
Cobalt-60 is used in cancer therapy, food sterilization and industrial radiography (to
detect structural flaws in metal parts).
History
Cobalt compounds have been used for centuries to impart a rich blue colour to glass,
glazes, and ceramics. Cobalt has been detected in Egyptian sculpture and Persian
jewelry from the third millennium BC, in the ruins of Pompeii (destroyed AD 79), and in
China dating from the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907) and the Ming dynasty (AD 1368-
1644).
Swedish chemist Georg Brandt (1694-1768) is credited with isolating cobalt sometime
between 1730 and 1737. He was able to show that cobalt was the source of the blue
colour in glass, which previously had been attributed to the bismuth found with cobalt.
During the 19th century, cobalt blue was produced at the Norwegian Blaafarvevaerket
(70-80% of world production), led by the Prussian industrialist Benjamin Wegner. In
1938, John Livingood and Glenn Seaborg discovered cobalt-60.
The word cobalt is derived from the German kobalt, from kobold meaning "goblin", a
term used for the ore of cobalt by miners. The first attempts at smelting the cobalt ores
to produce cobalt metal failed, yielding cobalt(II) oxide instead; not only that, but
because of cobalt's curious affinity for arsenic, the primary ores of cobalt always contain
arsenic, and upon smelting the arsenic oxidized into the highly toxic As4O6, which was
breathed in by workers.
Notes
Cobalt in small amounts is essential to many living organisms, including humans. Having
0.13 to 0.30 mg/kg of cobalt in soils markedly improves the health of grazing animals.
Cobalt is a central component of the vitamin cobalamin, or vitamin B-12.
Hazards
Cobalt is recognised by NIOSH as a neurotoxic agent.
Powdered cobalt in metal form is a fire hazard. Cobalt compounds should be handled
with care due to cobalt's slight toxicity. 60Co is a powerful gamma ray emitter and
exposure to it is therefore a cancer risk.
Nickel [Ni]
CAS-ID: 7440-02-0
An: 28 N: 31
Am: 58.6934 g/mol
Group No: 10
Colour: lustrous, metallic, silvery tinge Classification: Metallic
Density: 8.908g/cm3
Who: Axel Cronstedt
When: 1751
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
German: kupfernickel (false copper); nickel (satan).
"Nickel" in different languages.
Sources
Chiefly found in limonite (Fe,Ni)O(OH), garnierite (Ni,Mg)3Si2O5(OH) and pentlandite
[(Ni,Fe)9S8] ore. It is also found in magmatic sulfide deposits where the principal ore
mineral is pentlandite, (Ni, Fe)9S8.
Primary producers are Russia, South Africa, Australia, New Caledonia, Cuba, Indonesia,
the USA and Canada. Over 1.3 millions tons are produced annually.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
100 ppb by weight
11 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used mainly in metal alloys because of its resistance to corrosion. Also in nickel-
cadmium batteries, as a catalyst, a green tint in glass, electroplating and for coins.
Nickel consumption can be summarized as: nickel steels (60%), nickel-copper alloys and
nickel silver (14%), malleable nickel, nickel clad and Inconel (9%), plating (6%), nickel
cast irons (3%), heat and electric resistance alloys (3%), nickel brasses and bronzes
(2%), others (3%).
History
The use of Nickel is ancient, and can be traced back as far as 3500 BC. Bronzes from
what is now Syria had a nickel content of up to 2%. Further, there are Chinese
manuscripts suggesting that "white copper" (i.e. baitung) was used in the Orient
between 1700 and 1400 BC. However, because the ores of nickel were easily mistaken
for ores of silver, any understanding of this metal and its use dates to more
contemporary times.
Minerals containing nickel (e.g. kupfernickel, meaning copper of the devil ("Nick"), or
false copper) were of value for colouring glass green. In 1751, Baron Axel Fredrik
Cronstedt was attempting to extract copper from kupfernickel (now called niccolite
(NiAs)), and obtained instead a white metal that he called nickel.
In the United States, the term "nickel" or "nick" was originally applied to the copper-
nickel Indian cent coin introduced in 1859. Later, the name designated the three-cent
coin introduced in 1865, and the following year the five-cent shield nickel appropriated
the designation, which has remained ever since. Coins of pure nickel were first used in
1881 in Switzerland.
Notes
Nickel is magnetic (although the US 'nickel' coin is not as it is mostly copper).
The largest producer of nickel is Russia which extracts 267,000 tonnes of nickel per
year. Australia and Canada are the second and third largest producers, making 207 and
189.3 thousand tonnes per year.
Nickel use is ancient, and can be traced back as far as 3500 BC.
Hazards
Exposure to nickel metal and soluble compounds should not exceed 0.05 mg/cm3 in
nickel equivalents per 40-hour work week. Nickel sulfide (NiS) fume and dust is believed
to be carcinogenic, and various other nickel compounds may be as well.
Powder is pyrophoric - it can ignite spontaneously.
Copper [Cu]
CAS-ID: 7440-50-8
An: 29 N: 35
Am: 63.546 g/mol
Group No: 11
Group Name: Coinage metal
Colour: copper, metallic Classification: Metallic
Density: 8.96g/cm3
Who: Known to the ancients. Copper has played a significant part in the history of
mankind, which has used the easily accessible uncompounded metal for nearly 10,000
years. Civilizations in places like Iraq, China, Egypt, Greece and the Sumerian cities all
have early evidence of using copper, Britain and the United States also have extensive
histories of copper use and mining.
Name Origin
Latin: cyprium (island of Cyprus famed for its copper mines).
"Copper" in different languages.
Sources
Pure copper occurs rarely in nature. Usually copper found in such minerals as azurite
(Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2), malachite (Cu2CO3(OH)2) and bornite (Cu5FeS4) and in sulfides as in
chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), coveline (CuS), chalcosine (Cu2S) or oxides like cuprite (Cu2O).
Copper is obtained by smelting, leaching and by electrolysis.
Annual production is around 6.5 million tons. Primary mining areas are in the USA,
Zaire, Zambia, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Russia and Australia.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
1000 ppb by weight
99 ppb by atoms
Uses
Most often used as an electrical conductor. Its alloys are used in jewellery, bronze
sculptures and for coins. The skin of the Statue of Liberty is made of copper (81.3
tonnes).
Copper(II) sulfate (CuSO4).5H2O) is used as a fungicide and as algae control in domestic
lakes and ponds. It is used in gardening powders and sprays to kill mildew.
As a material in the manufacture of computer heatsinks, as a result of its superior heat
dissipation capacity to aluminium.
Bacteria will not grow on a copper surface because it is biostatic. Copper doorknobs are
used by hospitals to reduce the transfer of disease, and Legionnaire's Disease is
suppressed by copper tubing in air-conditioning systems.
History
Copper, as native copper, is one of the few metals to naturally occur as an
uncompounded mineral. Copper was known to some of the oldest civilizations on record,
and has a history of use that is at least 10,000 years old. A copper pendant was found in
what is now northern Iraq that dates to 8700 BC. By 5000 BC, there are signs of copper
smelting, the refining of copper from simple copper compounds such as malachite or
azurite. Among archaeological sites in Anatolia, Catal Hoyuk (~6000 BC) features native
copper artifacts and smelted lead beads, but no smelted copper. But Can Hasan (~5000
BCE) had access to smelted copper; this site has yielded the oldest known cast copper
artifact, a copper mace head.
Copper smelting appears to have been developed independently in several parts of the
world. In addition to its development in Anatolia by 5000 BCE, it was developed in China
before 2800 BCE, in the Andes around 2000 BCE, in Central America around 600 AD,
and in West Africa around 900 AD. Copper is found extensively in the Indus Valley
Civilization by the 3rd millennium BC. In Europe, Otzi the Iceman, a well-preserved male
dated to 3200 BC, was found with a copper-tipped axe whose metal was 99.7% pure.
High levels of arsenic in his hair suggest he was involved in copper smelting. There are
copper and bronze artifacts from Sumerian cities that date to 3000 BC, and Egyptian
artifacts of copper and copper-tin alloys nearly as old. In one pyramid, a copper
plumbing system was found that is 5000 years old. The Egyptians found that adding a
small amount of tin made the metal easier to cast, so bronze alloys were found in Egypt
almost as soon as copper was found. In the Americas production in the Old Copper
Complex, located in present day Michigan and Wisconsin, was dated back to between
6000 to 3000 BC.
The use of bronze became so pervasive in a certain era of civilization that it has been
named the Bronze Age. The transitional period in certain regions between the preceding
Neolithic period and the Bronze Age is termed the Chalcolithic ("copper-stone"), with
some high-purity copper tools being used alongside stone tools. Brass was known to the
Greeks, but only became a significant supplement to bronze during the Roman empire.
In Greek the metal was known by the name chalkos. Copper was a very important
resource for the Romans, Greeks and other ancient peoples. In Roman times, it became
known as aes Cyprium (aes being the generic Latin term for copper alloys such as
bronze and other metals, and Cyprium because so much of it was mined in Cyprus).
From this, the phrase was simplified to cuprum and then eventually Anglicized into the
English copper. Copper was associated with the goddess Aphrodite/Venus in mythology
and alchemy, owing to its lustrous beauty, its ancient use in producing mirrors, and its
association with Cyprus, which was sacred to the goddess. In alchemy the symbol for
copper was also the symbol for the planet Venus.
Notes
Copper is essential in all higher plants and animals. Copper is carried mostly in the
bloodstream on a plasma protein called ceruloplasmin. When copper is first absorbed in
the gut it is transported to the liver bound to albumin. Copper is found in a variety of
enzymes.
Copper is a very interesting element. It is one of the transition elements that actually
uses electrons from one of the inner orbitals in chemical reactions. In addition, it has
more than one oxidation state. Like many of the transition elements, copper has a
coloured ion. Copper typically forms a bluish green solution. Copper (Cu) has two
valences Cu I (cuprous) has one valence electron and Cu II (cupric) has two valence
electrons. Copper was one of the earliest known metals, having reportedly been mined
for over 5000 years. In nature it has two isotopes, 63 (69.09%), which has 29 electrons
and protons and 34 neutrons, and 65 (30.91%), which has 29 electrons and protons and
36 neutrons. Brass and bronze are alloys of copper.
Hazards
When powdered, the metal is a fire hazard (may react explosively with strong oxidizing
agents), it may also cause respiratory irritation. All copper compounds are toxic. Thirty
grams of copper sulfate is potentially lethal in humans.
Zinc [Zn]
CAS-ID: 7440-66-6
An: 30 N: 35
Am: 65.409 (4) g/mol
Group No: 12
Colour: bluish pale grey Classification: Metallic
Density: 7.14g/cm3
Availability: Zinc is available in many forms including dust, foil, granules, powder,
pieces, nanosize activated powder, shot, and a mossy form.
Who: Andreas Marggraf
When: 1764
Where: Germany
Name Origin
German: zin (German for tin).
"Zinc" in different languages.
Sources
Found in the minerals zinc blende (sphalerite) (ZnS), calamine (ZnO), franklinite
((Fe,Mn,Zn)(Fe,Mn)2O4), smithsonite (ZnCO3), willemite (Zn2SiO4), and zincite (ZnO).
The largest producers are Australia, Canada, Peru and the USA. Annual production is
around 5 million tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
33000 ppb by weight
3200 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used to coat other metals (galvanizing) to protect them from rusting. Used in alloys
such as brass, bronze, nickel. Also in solder, cosmetics and pigments.
Zinc Oxide is used as a white pigment in watercolours and paints. It can also be found
as an over-the-counter ointment that is appplied to the exposed skin of the face or nose
to prevent dehydration. It can also prevent sunburn.
Zinc Chloride (ZnCl2) is used as a deodorant and can also be used as wood preservative.
Zinc Sulfide (ZnS) is used in luminescent pigments such as those on the hands of clocks
and other items that glow in the dark.
Calamine lotion, used to treat skin rashes, is a mix of Zn-(hydroxy-)carbonates and
silicates.
Throat lozenges, used as remedies for the common cold, use Zinc Gluconate Glycine
(C12H22O14Zn) and Zinc acetate.
History
In ancient India the production of zinc metal was very common. Many mine sites of
Zawarmaala were active even during 1300-1000 BC. There are references of medicinal
uses of zinc in the Charaka Samhita (300 BC). The Rasaratna Samuccaya (800 AD)
explains the existence of two types of ores for zinc metal, one of which is ideal for metal
extraction while the other is used for medicinal purpose. Zinc alloys have been used for
centuries, as brass goods dating to 1000-1400 BC have been found in Israel and zinc
objects with 87% zinc have been found in prehistoric Transylvania. Because of the low
boiling point and high chemical reactivity of this metal (isolated zinc would tend to go up
the chimney rather than be captured), the true nature of this metal was not understood
in ancient times.
The manufacture of brass was known to the Ebi by about 30 BC, using a technique
where calamine and copper were heated together in a crucible. The zinc oxides in
calamine were reduced, and the free zinc metal was trapped by the copper, forming an
alloy. The resulting calamine brass was either cast or hammered into shape.
Smelting and extraction of impure forms of zinc was accomplished as early as 1000 AD
in India and China. In the West, impure zinc as a remnant in melting ovens was known
since Antiquity, but usually discarded as worthless. Strabo mentions it as pseudo-
arguros - "mock silver". The Berne zinc tablet is a votive plaque dating to Roman Gaul,
probably made from such zinc remnants.
Dr John Lane is said to have carried out experiments, probably at Landore, prior to his
bankruptcy in 1726. Postlewayt's Universal Dictionary, the most authentic source of all
technological information in Europe, did not mention zinc before 1751.
In 1738, William Champion patented in Great Britain a process to extract zinc from
calamine in a smelter, using a technology somewhat similar to that used at Zawar zinc
mines in Rajasthan. However, there is no evidence that he visited the orient.
Notes
The earth has been estimated to have 46 years supply of zinc. A chemist estimated in
2007 that at the current rate of usage, the world's supply of zinc would be exhausted by
about the year 2037.
Zinc is an essential element, necessary for sustaining all life. It is estimated that 3000 of
the hundreds of thousands of proteins in the human body contain zinc.
Hazards
Zinc powder is very flammable. Zinc may be harmful if swallowed or inhaled, and may
act as an irritant.
Gallium [Ga]
CAS-ID: 7440-55-3
An: 31 N: 39
Am: 69.723 g/mol
Group No: 13
Group Name: Metals
State: solid at 298 K (but melts only slightly above this temperature)
Density: 5.91g/cm3
Who: Paul emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
When: 1875
Where: France
Name Origin
Paul named the element after his native land of France and, in a multilingual pun, after
himself, as 'Lecoq' = the rooster, and Latin for rooster is "gallus".
"Gallium" in different languages.
Sources
Found throughout the crust in minerals like bauxite, germanite (Cu13Fe2Ge2S16) (as an
impurity) and coal, but does not exist in pure form in nature. Around 30 tons are
produced each year.
Abundance
Uses
Used in semiconductor production, quartz thermometers, laser diodes, used to locate
tumors and for creating mirrors. Gallium Gadolinium Garnet (Gd3Ga5O12) is a material
with good optical properties, and is used in fabrication of various optical components
and as substrate material for magneto-optical films.
Gallium is the rarest component of new photovoltaic compounds (such as copper indium
gallium selenium sulphide or Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2, recently announced by South African
researchers) for use in solar panels as an alternative to crystalline silicon, which is
currently in short supply.
It has been suggested that a liquid gallium-tin alloy could be used to cool computer
chips in place of water. As it conducts heat approximately 65 times better than water it
makes a considerably better coolant.
History
Gallium was discovered spectroscopically by Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875 by its
characteristic spectrum (two violet lines) in an examination of a zinc blende from the
Pyrenees. Before its discovery, most of its properties had been predicted and described
by Dmitri Mendeleev (who called the hypothetical element eka-aluminium) on the basis
of its position in his periodic table. Later, in 1875, Boisbaudran obtained the free metal
through the electrolysis of its hydroxide in KOH solution. He named the element "gallia"
after his native land of France. It was later claimed that, in one of those multilingual
puns so beloved of men of science of the early 19th century, he also named it after
himself, as 'Lecoq' = the rooster, and Latin for rooster is "gallus"; however, he denied
this in an 1877 article.
Notes
Gallium, along with caesium and mercury, is one of the few metals that are liquid at (or
near) room temperature. It will melt if held in your hand.
Gallium also corrodes most other metals by diffusing into their metal lattice. It is very
important to keep gallium away from any type of metal containers such as steel or
aluminium.
Hazards
Harmful if swallowed, inhaled or of it comes in to contact with skin. Corrosive, causes
burns.
Some sources suggest that it may cause dermatitis from prolonged exposure; other
tests have not caused a positive reaction. It will however stain your skin if you hold it in
your bare hands.
Germanium [Ge]
CAS-ID: 7440-56-4
An: 32 N: 41
Am: 72.64 g/mol
Group No: 14
Colour: greyish white Classification: Semi-metallic
Density: 5.323g/cm3
Who: Clemens Winkler
When: 1886
Where: Germany
Name Origin
Latin: Germania (Germany).
"Germanium" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained from refining copper, zinc and lead. It can be found in argyrodite (Ag8GeS6),
coal, germanite (Cu13Fe2Ge2S16), zinc ores as well as other minerals. About 80 tons are
produced each year.
Abundance
Seawater:
Uses
Widely used in semiconductors, infrared prisms (for night vision goggles), reflectors in
projectors, wide angle lenses and dentistry.
Germanium transistors are still used in some effects pedals by musicians who wish to
reproduce the distinctive tonal character of the "fuzz"-tone from the early rock and roll
era. Vintage effects pedals known to contain germanium transistors have shown marked
increases in collector value for this reason alone.
History
In 1871, germanium (Latin Germania for Germany) was one of the elements that Dmitri
Mendeleev predicted to exist as a missing analogue of the silicon group (Mendeleev
called it "ekasilicon"). The existence of this element was proven by Clemens Winkler in
1886. This discovery was an important confirmation of Mendeleev's idea of element
periodicity.
The development of the germanium transistor opened the door to countless applications
of solid state electronics. From 1950 through the early 1970s, this area provided an
increasing market for germanium, but then high purity silicon began replacing
germanium in transistors, diodes, and rectifiers. Silicon has superior electrical
properties, but requires much higher purity samples-a purity which could not be
commercially achieved in the early days. Meanwhile, demand for germanium in fiber
optics communication networks, infrared night vision systems, and polymerization
catalysts increased dramatically. These end uses represented 85% of worldwide
germanium consumption for 2000.
Notes
Its occurrence is 0.0007% of the earth's crust. In the elemental form it is a lustrous
white, brittle metalloid. When crystalized it has a diamond cubic structure. It is a poor
conductor and is used in electronics in rectifying devices and transistors. It is also used
in dental alloys. There are several compounds which contain germanium. "Germaine" or
germanium hydride is a colourless gas GeH4 prepared by the action of lithium aluminium
hydride on germanium halide in an ether solution. Germaine is a hazardous substance
UN2192 which is classified as a poisonous gas (2.3). It is also a flammable gas (2.1).
Other compounds include : Germanium dichloride GeCl2, Germanium dioxide GeO2,
Germanium tetrachloride GeCl4 this is very irritating to eyes and membranes.
Hazards
Certain compounds of germanium have low toxicity to mammals, but have toxic effects
against certain bacteria. This property makes these compounds useful as
chemotherapeutic agents.
Arsenic [As]
CAS-ID: 7440-38-2
An: 33 N: 42
Am: 74.92160 (2) g/mol
Group No: 15
Colour: metallic grey Classification: Semi-metallic
Density: 5.727g/cm3
Who: Albertus Magnus
When: 1250
Where: Unknown
Name Origin
Greek: arsenikos (male); Latin: arsenicum.
"Arsenic" in different languages.
Sources
Arsenopyrite, also unofficially called mispickel, (FeAsS) is the most common arsenic-
bearing mineral. On roasting in air, the arsenic sublimes as arsenic (III) oxide leaving
iron oxides.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
50 ppb by weight
4 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used as a deadly poison (in various agricultural insectisides and poisions), in shotgun
pellets, metal for mirrors, glass, lasers. Gallium Arsenide is an important semiconductor
used in integrated circuits and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
History
Arsenic has been known and used in Persia and elsewhere since ancient times. As the
symptoms of arsenic poisoning were somewhat ill-defined, it was frequently used for
murder until the advent of the Marsh test, a sensitive chemical test for its presence.
Due to its use by the ruling class to murder one another and its potency and
discreetness, arsenic has been called the Poison of Kings and the King of Poisons.
During the Bronze Age, arsenic was often included in bronze, which made the alloy
harder (so-called "arsenical bronze").
Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great, 1193-1280) is believed to have been the first to
isolate the element in 1250. In 1649 Johann Schroder published two ways of preparing
arsenic.
Notes
In the Victorian era, 'arsenic' (colourless, crystalline, soluble 'white arsenic') was mixed
with vinegar and chalk and eaten by women to improve the complexion of their faces,
making their skin paler to show they did not work in the fields. Arsenic was also rubbed
into the faces and arms of women to 'improve their complexion'. The accidental use of
arsenic in the adulteration of foodstuffs led to the Bradford sweet poisoning in 1858,
which resulted in approximately 20 deaths and 200 people taken ill with arsenic
poisoning.
Hazards
Very toxic. Arsenic is a carcinogen, associated with lung cancer when inhaled. Contact
with skin can result in skin cancer. Also damage to intestines and liver. Toxic when
ingested. May cause reproductive disorders. It is found in pesticides and wood
preservatives.
Harmful in the environment, very toxic to aquatic organisms. May cause long term
damage.
Arsenic [As]
CAS-ID: 7440-38-2
An: 33 N: 42
Am: 74.92160 (2) g/mol
Group No: 15
Colour: metallic grey Classification: Semi-metallic
Density: 5.727g/cm3
Who: Albertus Magnus
When: 1250
Where: Unknown
Name Origin
Greek: arsenikos (male); Latin: arsenicum.
"Arsenic" in different languages.
Sources
Arsenopyrite, also unofficially called mispickel, (FeAsS) is the most common arsenic-
bearing mineral. On roasting in air, the arsenic sublimes as arsenic (III) oxide leaving
iron oxides.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
50 ppb by weight
4 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used as a deadly poison (in various agricultural insectisides and poisions), in shotgun
pellets, metal for mirrors, glass, lasers. Gallium Arsenide is an important semiconductor
used in integrated circuits and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
History
Arsenic has been known and used in Persia and elsewhere since ancient times. As the
symptoms of arsenic poisoning were somewhat ill-defined, it was frequently used for
murder until the advent of the Marsh test, a sensitive chemical test for its presence.
Due to its use by the ruling class to murder one another and its potency and
discreetness, arsenic has been called the Poison of Kings and the King of Poisons.
During the Bronze Age, arsenic was often included in bronze, which made the alloy
harder (so-called "arsenical bronze").
Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great, 1193-1280) is believed to have been the first to
isolate the element in 1250. In 1649 Johann Schroder published two ways of preparing
arsenic.
Notes
In the Victorian era, 'arsenic' (colourless, crystalline, soluble 'white arsenic') was mixed
with vinegar and chalk and eaten by women to improve the complexion of their faces,
making their skin paler to show they did not work in the fields. Arsenic was also rubbed
into the faces and arms of women to 'improve their complexion'. The accidental use of
arsenic in the adulteration of foodstuffs led to the Bradford sweet poisoning in 1858,
which resulted in approximately 20 deaths and 200 people taken ill with arsenic
poisoning.
Hazards
Very toxic. Arsenic is a carcinogen, associated with lung cancer when inhaled. Contact
with skin can result in skin cancer. Also damage to intestines and liver. Toxic when
ingested. May cause reproductive disorders. It is found in pesticides and wood
preservatives.
Harmful in the environment, very toxic to aquatic organisms. May cause long term
damage.
Selenium [Se]
CAS-ID: 7782-49-2
An: 34 N: 45
Am: 78.96 g/mol
Group No: 16
Colour: grey, metallic lustre Classification: Non-metallic
Density: (gray) 4.81g/cm3
Density: (vitreous) 4.28g/cm3
Who: Jöns Berzelius
When: 1817
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: Selene (Moon)
"Selenium" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained from lead, silver, copper and nickel refining.
Important producers are Canada, the USA, Bolivia and Russia. Around 600 tons are
produced annually.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
50 ppb by weight
4 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in photoelectric cells, TV cameras, as a semiconductor in solar batteries, light
meters, copy machines, anti-dandruff shampoo and rectifiers. Also colours glass red.
History
Selenium was discovered in 1817 by Jöns Jakob Berzelius who found the element
associated with tellurium (named for the Earth).
Growth in selenium consumption was historically driven by steady development of new
uses, including applications in rubber compounding, steel alloying, and selenium
rectifiers. By 1970, selenium in rectifiers had largely been replaced by silicon, but its use
as a photoconductor in plain paper copiers had become its leading application. During
the 1980s, the photoconductor application declined (although it was still a large end-
use) as more and more copiers using organic photoconductors were produced.
Presently, the largest use of selenium world-wide is in glass manufacturing, followed by
uses in chemicals and pigments. Electronic use, despite a number of continued
applications, continues to decline.
In 1996, continuing research showed a positive correlation between selenium
supplementation and cancer prevention in humans, but widespread direct application of
this important finding would not add significantly to demand owing to the small doses
required. In the late 1990s, the use of selenium (usually with bismuth) as an additive to
plumbing brasses to meet no-lead environmental standards, became important. At
present, total world selenium production continues to increase modestly.
Notes
Conducts electricity when struck by light. Selenium is found (and even appears to be
required at very low levels) in humans, but in trace amounts.
Some clinical studies have shown that selenium may help cut the risk of certain cancers.
Hazards
Selenium and its compounds are extremely toxic and behave in the same way as
arsenic. May be fatal if inhaled, ingested or absorbed through skin.
Bromine [Br]
CAS-ID: 7726-95-6
An: 35 N: 45
Am: 79.904 g/mol
Group No: 17
Group Name: Halogen
State: liquid
Colour: red-brown, metallic lustre when solid Classification: Non-metallic
Density: (liquid) 3.1028g/cm3
Who: Antoine J. Balard
When: 1826
Where: France
Name Origin
Greek: bromos (stench).
"Bromine" in different languages.
Sources
Occurs in compounds in sea water. World wide production is around 330 thousand tons
per year. Main producers are the USA, Israel, the UK, Russia, France and Japan.
Abundance
Seawater: 67.3 ppm
Human:
2900 ppb by weight
230 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used for water purification (swimming pools), manufacture of ethylene dibromide
(C2H4Br2)(anti-knocking gasoline), bleaching, organic synthesis, solvent, analytical
reagent, fire retardant for plastics, pharmaceuticals, shrink-proofing wool.
Bromine is used to make brominated vegetable oil, which is used as an emulsifier in
many citrus-flavoured soft drinks.
History
Bromine was discovered by Antoine Balard at the salt marshes of Montpellier in 1826,
but was not produced in quantity until 1860. The French chemist and physicist Joseph-
Louis Gay-Lussac suggested the name bromine due to the characteristic smell of the
vapours.
Notes
Bromine is highly reactive and is a powerful oxidizing agent in the presence of water. It
reacts vigorously with amines, alkenes and phenols as well as aliphatic and aromatic
hydrocarbons, ketones and acids (these are brominated by either addition or
substitution reactions). With many of the metals and elements, anhydrous bromine is
less reactive than hydrated bromine; however, dry bromine reacts vigorously with
aluminium, titanium, mercury as well as alkaline earth metals and alkali metals.
Because of its high cost, bromine is usually recycled rather than disposed of into the
environment.
About 500 million kilograms of bromine are produced each year worldwide, with the USA
and Israel being the main producers.
Hazards
May be fatal if inhaled, highly toxic b inhalation, ingestion or skin contact.
Elemental bromine is a strong irritant and, in concentrated form, will produce painful
blisters on exposed skin and especially mucous membranes. Even low concentrations of
bromine vapour (from 10 ppm) can affect breathing, and inhalation of significant
amounts of bromine can seriously damage the respiratory system.
Krypton [Kr]
CAS-ID: 7439-90-9
An: 36 N: 48
Am: 83.798 g/mol
Group No: 18
Group Name: Noble Gases
State: Gas
Colour: Colourless Classification: Non-metallic
Density: 3.749g/l
Availability: Krypton is present in the air at about 1 ppm.
Who: Sir William Ramsey, M.W. Travers
When: 1898
Where: Great Britain
Name Origin
Greek: kryptos (hidden).
"Krypton" in different languages.
Sources
Forms around 1 millionth of the atmosphere. It is obtained from production of liquid air.
It is one of the products of uranium fission.
Abundance
Atmosphere: 1.14 ppm
Uses
Used in fluorescent bulbs, flashbulbs, and as a wavelength standard.
One major use of krypton is the krypton fluorine laser. Certain amounts of energy are
added to force krypton gas to react with fluorine gas to become KrF excited state
complex.
The compound will decompose once the energy supply stops. During the decomposition
process, the excess energy stored in the excited state complex will be emitted in the
form of strong ultraviolet laser radiation.
History
Krypton was discovered in Great Britain in 1898 by Sir William Ramsay and Morris
Travers in residue left from evaporating nearly all components of liquid air.
Rubidium [Rb]
CAS-ID: 7440-17-7
An: 37 N: 48
Am: 85.4678 (3) g/mol
Group No: 1
State: solid
Density: 1.532g/cm3
Who: Robert Bunsen, Gustav Kirchoff
When: 1861
Where: Germany
Name Origin
Latin: rubidus (red); the colour its salts impart to flames.
"Rubidium" in different languages.
Sources
Occurs abundantly, but so widespread that production is limited. Usually obtained from
lithium production. Occurs in the minerals leucite, pollucite ((Cs,Na)2Al2Si4O12.2H2O) and
zinnwaldite (KLiFeAl(AlSi3)O10(OH,F)2).
Abundance
Seawater: 0.12 ppm
Human:
4600 ppb by weight
340 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in fireworks (to give them a purple colour), atomic clocks, photoelectric cells,
vacuum tubes, heart research and as a catalyst.
History
Rubidium was discovered in 1861 by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff in the mineral
lepidolite ((KLi2Al(Al,Si)3O10(F,OH)2) through the use of a spectroscope. However, this
element had minimal industrial use until the 1920s. Historically, the most important use
for rubidium has been in research and development, primarily in chemical and electronic
applications.
Notes
Rb has been used extensively in dating rocks; 87Rb decays to stable 87Sr by emission of a
negative beta particle. During fractional crystallization, Sr tends to become concentrated
in plagioclase, leaving Rb in the liquid phase. Hence, the Rb/Sr ratio in residual magma
may increase over time, resulting in rocks with increasing Rb/Sr ratios with increasing
differentiation. Highest ratios (10 or higher) occur in pegmatites. If the initial amount of
Sr is known or can be extrapolated, the age can be determined by measurement of the
Rb and Sr concentrations and the 87Sr/86Sr ratio. The dates indicate the true age of the
minerals only if the rocks have not been subsequently altered.
Hazards
Rubidium reacts violently with water and can cause fires.
Strontium [Sr]
CAS-ID: 7440-24-6
An: 38 N: 50
Am: 87.62 g/mol
Group No: 2
Density: 2.64g/cm3
Who: A. Crawford
When: 1790
Where: Scotland
Name Origin
From Strontian a small Scottish town.
"Strontium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in minerals celestite (SrSO4) and strontianite (SrCO3). Primary producers are
China, the UK, Tunisia, Russia, Germany, Mexico and the USA. Around 137 thousand
tons are produced annually.
Abundance

Seawater:
Atlantic surface: 7.6 ppm
Atlantic deep: 7.7 ppm
Pacific surface: 7.6 ppm
Pacific deep: 7.7 ppm
Human:
4600 ppb by weight
330 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in flares and fireworks for its crimson colour. It's primary use is glass for colour
television cathode ray tubes, but it is also used in nuclear batteries in buoys, some
sensitive teeth toothpastes (as SrCl2), magnets, zinc refining and phosphorescent paint.
Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) has an extremely high refractive index and an optical
dispersion greater than that of diamond, making it useful in a variety of optics
applications.
History
The mineral strontianite (SrCO3) is named after the Scottish village of Strontian having
been discovered in the lead mines there in 1787. Adair Crawford recognized it as
differing from other barium minerals in 1790. Strontium itself was discovered in 1798 by
Thomas Charles Hope, and metallic strontium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in
1808 using electrolysis.
Notes
Strontium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808.
Hazards
In its pure form strontium is extremely reactive with air and spontaneously combusts, it
is therefore considered to be a fire hazard.
Yttrium [Y]
CAS-ID: 7440-65-5
An: 39 N: 50
Am: 88.90585 (2) g/mol
Group No: 3

Superconducting temperature: 1.3K (-271.85°C) (under pressure)
Density: 4.472g/cm3
Who: Johann Gadolin
When: 1794
Where: Finland
Name Origin
From the town of Ytterby, Sweden.
"Yttrium" in different languages.
Sources
This element is found in almost all rare earth minerals (including monazite, xenotime,
and yttria (Y2O3)) and in uranium ores but is never found in nature as a free element.
Annual production is around 400 tons.
Important mining occurs in the USA, Russia, Norway and Madagascar.
Abundance
Uses
Combined with europium to make red phosphors for colour TVs. Yttrium oxide and iron
oxide combine to form a crystal garnet used in radars. It is also used to increase the
strength of aluminium and magnesium alloys. Also used in lasers, camera lenses and
fireproof bricks. Yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) has a hardness of 8.5 and is a
simulated diamond.
Yttrium was used as a "secret" element in a superconductor developed at the University

of Houston, YBaCuO. This superconductor operated above 90K, an amazing feat because
it can operate at above liquid nitrogen's boiling point. (Y1.2Ba0.8CuO4). The matter created
was a multi-crystal multi-phase mineral, of which most were black and green.
History
Yttrium was discovered by Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist Johann Gadolin in
1794 and isolated by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828 as an impure extract of yttria through the
reduction of yttrium anhydrous chloride (YCl3) with potassium. Yttria (Y2O3) is the oxide
of yttrium and was discovered by Johann Gadolin in 1794 in a gadolinite mineral from
Ytterby.
In 1843, the great Swedish chemist Carl Mosander was able to show that yttria could be
divided into the oxides (or earths) of three different elements. "Yttria" was the name
which was retained for the most basic one, which also happened to comprise the bulk of
the crude mixture (typically about two-thirds) and the others were re-named erbia and
terbia. (Later in the 19th century, both of these would also be shown to be complex,
although the names would be retained for the most characteristic component of each.)
A quarry is located near the village of Ytterby that yielded many unusual minerals that
contained rare earths and other elements. The elements erbium, terbium, ytterbium,
and yttrium have all been named after this same small village.
Notes
Lunar rock samples from the Apollo program have a relatively high yttrium content.
Hazards
Although most people will never come in to contact with compounds containing this
element it worth knowing that they are highly toxic. Long-term exposure can cause lung
or liver damage.
Zirconium [Zr]
CAS-ID: 7440-67-7
An: 40 N: 51
Am: 91.224 (2) g/mol
Group No: 4
Density: 6.52g/cm3
Availability: Zirconium is available in many forms including foil, nanosized activated
powder, powder, rod, sponge, bar, sheet, and wire.
Who: Martin Klaproth
When: 1789
Where: Germany
Name Origin
From the mineral zircon
"Zirconium" in different languages.
Sources
Zirconium is never found in nature as a free metal. Found in many minerals such as
zircon (ZrSiO4) and baddeleyite (ZrO2). Annual production of zircon is around 1.2 million
tonnes.
Primary producers are Australia, Brazil, Sri Lanka and the USA.
Abundance
Human:
50 ppb by weight
3 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in alloys such as zircaloy which is used in nuclear applications since it does not
readily absorb neutrons. Also used in catalytic converters, percussion caps and furnace
bricks. Baddeleyite is used in lab crucibles. Zirconium nitride (ZrN) has been used more
recently as an alternative to titanium nitride for coating drill bits. Both coatings are
supposed to keep the bit sharper and cooler during cutting.
Extensively used by the chemical industry for piping in corrosive environments.
Because human tissues can easily tolerate this metal it is suitable for biocompatible
implants, eg. some artificial joints and limbs.
When alloyed with niobium, zirconium becomes superconductive at low temperatures

and is used to make superconductive magnets with possible large-scale electrical power
uses.
History
Although it was discovered in 1789 by Martin Heinrich Klaproth it wasn't isolated until
1824, by Jöns Jakob Berzelius.
The zirconium-containing mineral zircon, or its variations (jargon, hyacinth, jacinth, or

ligure), were mentioned in biblical writings. The mineral was not known to contain a new
element until Klaproth analyzed a jargon from Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. He named
the new element Zirkonertz (zirconia). The impure metal was isolated first by Berzelius
by heating a mixture of potassium and potassium-zirconium fluoride in a small
decomposition process conducted in an iron tube. Pure zirconium wasn't prepared until
1914.
The crystal bar process (or Iodide process), discovered by Anton Eduard van Arkel and
Jan Hendrik de Boer in 1925, was the first industrial process for the commercial
production of pure ductile metallic zirconium. It was superseded by the Kroll process.
Notes
This element has been detected in the sun and meteorites. Lunar rock samples brought
back from several Apollo program missions to the moon have a very high zirconium
oxide content relative to terrestrial rocks.
Hazards
Compounds containing zirconium are not noted for toxicity. The metal dust can ignite in
air and should be regarded as a major fire and explosion hazard.
Niobium [Nb]
CAS-ID: 7440-03-1
An: 41 N: 52
Am: 92.90638 g/mol
Group No: 5
Colour: grey metallic Classification: Metallic

Density: 8.57g/cm3
Who: Charles Hatchet
When: 1801
Where: England
Name Origin
From Niobe; daughter of the mythical Greek king Tantalus.
"Niobium" in different languages.
Sources
Occurs in the minerals columbite ([(Fe, Mn)(Nb, Ta)2O6]), columbite-tantalite, pyrochlore

((Na,Ca)2Nb2O6(OH,F)) and euxenite ((Y,Ca,Ce,U,Th)(Nb,Ta,Ti)2O6). Brazil and Canada
are the major producers of niobium mineral concentrates and extensive ore reserves are
also in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, and in Russia.
Around 15 thousand tons are produced annually.
Abundance
Uses
It is used in stainless steel alloys for nuclear reactors, jets, missiles, cutting tools,
pipelines, super magnets and welding rods. Because of its bluish colour, niobium is also
used in body piercing jewellery (usually as an alloy).
Appreciable amounts of niobium in the form of high-purity ferroniobium and nickel

niobium are used in nickel-, cobalt-, and iron-base superalloys for such applications as
jet engine components, rocket subassemblies, and heat-resisting and combustion
equipment. For example, advanced air frame systems such as those used in the Gemini
program used this metal.
Niobium is also added to glass in order to attain a higher refractive index, a property
used in the optical industry to make thinner corrective glasses.
History
Niobium (Greek mythology: Niobe, daughter of Tantalus) was discovered by Charles

Hatchett in 1801. Hatchett found niobium in columbite ore that was sent to England in
the 1750s by John Winthrop, the first governor of Connecticut. There was a considerable
amount of confusion about the difference between the closely-related niobium and
tantalum that wasn't resolved until 1846 by Heinrich Rose and Jean Charles Galissard de
Marignac, who rediscovered the element. Since Rose was unaware of Hatchett's work,
he gave the element a different name, niobium. In 1864 Christian Blomstrand was the
first to prepare the pure metal, reducing niobium chloride by heating it in a hydrogen
atmosphere.
Columbium (symbol Cb) was the name originally given to this element by Hatchett, but
the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially adopted
"niobium" as the name for element 41 in 1950 after 100 years of controversy. This was
a compromise of sorts; the IUPAC accepted tungsten instead of wolfram, in deference to
North American usage; and niobium instead of columbium, in deference to European
usage. Not everyone agreed, however, and while many leading chemical societies and
government organizations refer to it by the official IUPAC name, many leading
metallurgists, metal societies, and most leading American commercial producers still
refer to the metal by the original "columbium."
Notes
Previously known as Columbium (Cb).
Hazards
Niobium containing compounds are relatively rarely encountered by most people but
many are highly toxic and should be treated with care. Metallic niobium dust is an eye
and skin irritant and also can be a fire hazard.
Molybdenum [Mo]
CAS-ID: 7439-98-7
An: 42 N: 54
Am: 95.94 g/mol
Group No: 6
Colour: grey metallic Classification: Metallic
Density: 10.28g/cm3
When: 1778
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: molubdos (lead-like).
"Molybdenum" in different languages.
Sources
Found in the minerals molybdenite (MoS2) and wulfenite (MoO4Pb) and as a byproduct of
copper mining.
Primary producers are the USA, Australia, Italy, Norway and Bolivia. Annual production
is around 80 thousand tons.
Abundance
Seawater: 0.01 ppm
Human:
100 ppb by weight
7 ppb by atoms
Uses
In small quantities, molybdenum is effective at hardening steel. Used in aircraft,

missiles, filaments in electric heaters and protective coatings in boiler plates.
Molybdenum oranges are pigments ranging from red-yellow to a bright red orange and
used in paints, inks, plastics, and rubber compounds.
Molybdenum disulfide is a good lubricant, especially at high temperatures. Molybdenum

is also used in some electronic applications, as the conductive metal layers in thin-film
transistors (TFTs).
History
Molybdenite (MoS2)(from the Greek molybdos, meaning lead), the principal ore from
which molybdenum is now extracted, was previously known as molybdena. Molybdena
was confused with and often implemented as though it were graphite. Even when the
two ores were distinguishable, molybdena was thought to be a lead ore. In 1754, Bengt
Qvist examined the mineral and determined that it did not contain lead. It was not until
1778 that Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele realized molybdena was neither
graphite nor lead. He and other chemists then correctly assumed that it was the ore of a
distinct new element, named molybdenum for the mineral in which it was discovered.
Peter Jacob Hjelm successfully isolated molybdenum using carbon and linseed oil in
1781.
In World War I, some British tanks were protected by 75 mm manganese plating, but
this proved to be ineffective. The manganese plates were then replaced with 25 mm
molybdenum plating. These allowed for higher speed, greater manueverability and,
despite being thinner, better protection.
Notes
Over 66% of all molybdenum is used in alloys.
Molybdenum has been found to have a role in the biology of all classes of organisms. It
is found in two groups of enzymes, the nitrogenases and the molybdopterins.
Hazards
Molybdenum dusts and molybdenum compounds, such as molybdenum trioxide and

water-soluble molybdates, may have slight toxicities if inhaled or ingested orally.
Laboratory tests suggest, compared to many heavy metals, that molybdenum is of
relatively low toxicity. Acute toxicity in humans is unlikely because the dose required
would be exceptionally large.
Technetium [Tc]
CAS-ID: 7440-26-8
An: 43 N: 55
Am: [98] g/mol
Group No: 7
Density: 11g/cm3
Who: Carlo Perrier, Emillo Segre
When: 1937
Where: Italy
Name Origin
Greek: technetos (artificial).
"Technetium" in different languages.
Sources
Made first by bombarding molybdenum with deuterons (heavy hydrogen) in a cyclotron.
Uses
The technetium-99m isotope serves as a radiation source in medicine where it is used to

locate tumours in the spleen, liver, brain, and thyroid. When 99mTc is combined with a tin
compound it binds to red blood cells and can therefore be used to map circulatory
system disorders. Technetium-99 is used for equipment calibration.
History
For a number of years there was a gap in the periodic table between molybdenum
(element 42) and ruthenium (element 44). Many early researchers were eager to be the
first to discover and name the missing element; its location in the table suggested that it
should be easier to find than other undiscovered elements. It was first thought to have
been found in platinum ores in 1828. It was given the name polinium but it turned out to
be impure iridium. Then in 1846 the element ilmenium was claimed to have been
discovered but was determined to be impure niobium. This mistake was repeated in
1847 with the "discovery" of pelopium. Dmitri Mendeleev predicted that this missing
element, as part of other predictions, would be chemically similar to manganese and
gave it the name ekamanganese.
In 1877, the Russian chemist Serge Kern reported discovering the missing element in
platinum ore. Kern named what he thought was the new element "davyum", after the
noted English chemist Sir Humphry Davy, but it was determined to be a mixture of
iridium, rhodium and iron. Another candidate, lucium, followed in 1896 but it was
determined to be yttrium. Then in 1908 the Japanese chemist Masataka Ogawa found
evidence in the mineral thorianite (ThO2) which he thought indicated the presence of
element 43. Ogawa named the element nipponium, after Japan (which is Nippon in
Japanese). In 2004 H. K YOSHIHARA utilized "a record of X-ray spectrum of Ogawa's
nipponium sample from thorianite [which] was contained in a photographic plate
reserved by his family. The spectrum was read and indicated the absence of the element
43 and the presence of the element 75 (rhenium)."
German chemists Walter Noddack, Otto Berg and Ida Tacke (later Mrs. Noddack)
reported the discovery of element 75 and element 43 in 1925 and named element 43
masurium (after Masuria in eastern Prussia, now in Poland, the region where Walter
Noddack's family originated). The group bombarded columbite with a beam of electrons
and deduced element 43 was present by examining X-ray diffraction spectrograms. The
wavelength of the X-rays produced is related to the atomic number by a formula derived
by Henry Moseley in 1913. The team claimed to detect a faint X-ray signal at a
wavelength produced by element 43. Contemporary experimenters could not replicate
the discovery, and in fact it was dismissed as an error for many years.
Discovery of element 43 was finally confirmed in a 1937 experiment at the University of

Palermo in Sicily conducted by Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segre. In the summer of 1936
Segre and his wife visited the United States, first New York at Columbia University,
where he had spent time the previous summer, and then Berkeley at Lawrence's
Radiation Laboratory. He persuaded cyclotron inventor Ernest Lawrence to let him take
back some discarded cyclotron parts that had become radioactive. In early 1937
Lawrence mailed him a molybdenum foil that had been part of the deflector in the
cyclotron. Segre enlisted his experienced chemist colleague Carlo Perrier to attempt to
prove through comparative chemistry that the molybdenum activity was indeed Z = 43,
an element not existent in nature because of its instability against nuclear decay. With
considerable difficulty they finally succeeded in isolating three distinct decay periods (90,
80, and 50 days) that eventually turned out to be two isotopes, 95Tc and 97Tc, of
technetium, the name given later by Perrier and Segre to the first man-made element.
University of Palermo officials wanted them to name their discovery panormium, after
the Latin name for Palermo, Panormus. The researchers instead named element 43 after
the Greek word technetos, meaning "artificial", since it was the first element to be
artificially produced. Segre returned to Berkeley and immediately sought out Glenn T
Seaborg. They isolated the technetium-99m isotope which is now used in some
10,000,000 medical diagnostic procedures annually.
In 1952 astronomer Paul W. Merrill in California detected the spectral signature of

technetium (in particular, light at 403.1 nm, 423.8 nm, 426.8 nm, and 429.7 nm) in
light from S-type red giants. These massive stars near the end of their lives were rich in
this short-lived element, meaning nuclear reactions within the stars must be producing
it. This evidence was used to bolster the then unproven theory that stars are where
nucleosynthesis of the heavier elements occurs. More recently, such observations
provided evidence that elements were being formed by neutron capture in the s-
process.
Notes
First artificially created element.
All isotopes of technetium are radioactive but the element and its compounds are
extremely rarely found in nature.
Most technetium produced on Earth is a by-product of fission of uranium-235 in nuclear

reactors and is extracted from nuclear fuel rods. On earth, technetium occurs naturally
only in uranium ores as a product of spontaneous fission; the quantities are minute but
have been measured.
No isotope of technetium has a half-life longer than 4.2 million years (98Tc), so its
detection in red giants in 1952 helped bolster the theory that stars can produce heavier
elements.
Ruthenium [Ru]
CAS-ID: 7440-18-8
An: 44 N: 57
Am: 101.07 (2) g/mol
Group No: 8
Group Name: Precious metal or Platinum group metal

State: solid
Colour: silvery white metallic Classification: Metallic
Density: 12.45g/cm3
Who: Karl Klaus
When: 1844
Where: Russia
Name Origin
From Ruthenia, the Latin name of Russia.
"Ruthenium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in the minerals pentlandite ((Fe,Ni)9S8) and pyroxinite. It is also possible to

extract Ruthenium from spent nuclear fuel, which contains an average of 2 kg per metric
ton.
Abundance
Uses
Used to harden platinum and palladium. Also used in eye treatments, thickness meters
for egg shells, fountain pen points, and electrical contacts. Aircraft magnetos use
platinum alloy with 10% ruthenium.
The corrosion resistance of titanium is increased markedly by the addition of a small

amount of ruthenium.
Recently, large metallo-organic complexes of ruthenium have been found to exhibit anti-
tumor activity and the first of a new group of anti-cancer medicine are now in the stage
of clinical trials.
History
Ruthenium was discovered and isolated by Russian scientist Karl Klaus in 1844. Klaus
showed that ruthenium oxide contained a new metal and obtained 6 grams of ruthenium
from the part of crude platinum that is insoluble in aqua regia.
Jöns Berzelius and Gottfried Osann nearly discovered ruthenium in 1827. The men
examined residues that were left after dissolving crude platinum from the Ural
Mountains in aqua regia. Berzelius did not find any unusual metals, but Osann thought
he found three new metals and named one of them ruthenium.
The name derives from Ruthenia the Latin word for Rus', a historical area which includes
present day Ukraine, Belarus, and parts of the Russia, Baltics, Slovakia and Poland. Karl
Klaus called the element in honour of his birthland. He was born in Tartu, Estonia, then
part of the Russian Empire.
It is also possible that Polish chemist Jedrzej Sniadecki isolated element 44 (which he
called vestium) from platinum ores in 1807. However his work was never confirmed and
he later withdrew his discovery claim.
Notes
It is not attacked by acids but is attacked by halogens at high temperatures. The

corrosion resistance of titanium is increased markedly by the addition of a small amount
of ruthenium.
Hazards
Ruthenium may be harmful if inhaled.
The compound ruthenium tetroxide, RuO4, similar to osmium tetroxide, is highly toxic
and may explode. Ruthenium plays no biological role but does strongly stain human
skin, may be carcinogenic and bio-accumulates in bone.
Rhodium [Rh]
CAS-ID: 7440-16-6
An: 45 N: 58
Am: 102.90550 (2) g/mol
Group No: 9
State: solid

Density: 12.41g/cm3
Who: William Wollaston
When: 1803
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: rhodon (rose). Its salts give a rosy solution.
"Rhodium" in different languages.
Sources
The industrial extraction of rhodium is complex as the metal occurs in ores mixed with
other metals such as palladium, silver, platinum, and gold. Principal sources of this
element are located in South Africa, in river sands of the Ural Mountains, in North and
South America and also in the copper-nickel sulfide mining area of the Sudbury, Ontario
region. Obtained as a by-product of nickel production. Over 80% of the world's rhodium
exports comes from South Africa. The annual production of rhodium is only around 20
tonnes.
Abundance
Uses
The primary use of this element is as an alloying agent for hardening platinum and
palladium. Used as a coating to prevent wear on high quality science equipment and
with platinum to make thermocouples. Also used in headlight reflectors, telephone
relays, fountain pen points and airplane spark plugs. Sometimes used to give white gold
extra shine.
History
Rhodium was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, soon after his discovery of
palladium. They made this discovery in England using crude platinum ore that they
presumably obtained from South America.
Their procedure involved dissolving the ore in aqua regia, neutralizing the acid with
sodium hydroxide (NaOH). They then precipitated the platinum by adding ammonium
chloride, NH4Cl, as ammonium chloroplatinate. The element palladium was removed as
palladium cyanide after treating the solution with mercuric cyanide. The material that
remained was a red rhodium(III) chloride: rhodium metal was isolated via reduction
with hydrogen gas.
Notes
Rhodium metal does not normally form an oxide, even when heated. Oxygen is absorbed
from the atmosphere at the melting point of rhodium, but on solidification the oxygen is
released. Rhodium has both a higher melting point and lower density than platinum. It is
not attacked by acids: it is completely insoluble in nitric acid and dissolves slightly in
aqua regia. A complete dissolution of rhodium in powder form is only obtained in sulfuric
acid.
Rhodium has been used for honours, or to symbolize wealth, when more commonly used
metals such as silver, gold, or platinum are deemed insufficient.
Hazards
Compounds that contain rhodium are not often encountered by most people and should
be considered to be highly toxic and carcinogenic. Rhodium compounds can stain human
skin very strongly. This element plays no biological role in humans.
Rhodium [Rh]
CAS-ID: 7440-16-6
An: 45 N: 58
Am: 102.90550 (2) g/mol
Group No: 9
State: solid
Density: 12.41g/cm3
Who: William Wollaston
When: 1803
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: rhodon (rose). Its salts give a rosy solution.
"Rhodium" in different languages.

Sources
The industrial extraction of rhodium is complex as the metal occurs in ores mixed with
other metals such as palladium, silver, platinum, and gold. Principal sources of this
element are located in South Africa, in river sands of the Ural Mountains, in North and
South America and also in the copper-nickel sulfide mining area of the Sudbury, Ontario
region. Obtained as a by-product of nickel production. Over 80% of the world's rhodium
exports comes from South Africa. The annual production of rhodium is only around 20
tonnes.
Abundance
Uses
The primary use of this element is as an alloying agent for hardening platinum and
palladium. Used as a coating to prevent wear on high quality science equipment and
with platinum to make thermocouples. Also used in headlight reflectors, telephone
relays, fountain pen points and airplane spark plugs. Sometimes used to give white gold
extra shine.
History
Rhodium was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, soon after his discovery of
palladium. They made this discovery in England using crude platinum ore that they
presumably obtained from South America.
Their procedure involved dissolving the ore in aqua regia, neutralizing the acid with
sodium hydroxide (NaOH). They then precipitated the platinum by adding ammonium
chloride, NH4Cl, as ammonium chloroplatinate. The element palladium was removed as
palladium cyanide after treating the solution with mercuric cyanide. The material that
remained was a red rhodium(III) chloride: rhodium metal was isolated via reduction
with hydrogen gas.
Notes
Rhodium metal does not normally form an oxide, even when heated. Oxygen is absorbed
from the atmosphere at the melting point of rhodium, but on solidification the oxygen is
released. Rhodium has both a higher melting point and lower density than platinum. It is
not attacked by acids: it is completely insoluble in nitric acid and dissolves slightly in
aqua regia. A complete dissolution of rhodium in powder form is only obtained in sulfuric
acid.
Rhodium has been used for honours, or to symbolize wealth, when more commonly used
metals such as silver, gold, or platinum are deemed insufficient.
Hazards
Compounds that contain rhodium are not often encountered by most people and should
be considered to be highly toxic and carcinogenic. Rhodium compounds can stain human
skin very strongly. This element plays no biological role in humans.
Silver [Ag]
CAS-ID: 7440-22-4
An: 47 N: 61
Am: 107.8682 g/mol
Group No: 11
Colour: silver Classification: Metallic
Density: 10.49g/cm3
Who: Known to the ancients. Silver has been coined to produce money since 700 BC by
the Lydians, in the form of electrum. Later, silver was refined and coined in its pure
form. The words for "silver" and "money" are the same in at least 14 languages.
Name Origin
Latin argentum (silver). Silver from old english seolfor for silver.
"Silver" in different languages.
Sources
Found in ores called argentite (AgS), light ruby silver (Ag3AsS3), dark ruby silver
(Ag3SbS3) and brittle silver. The main sources of silver are in Canada, Mexico (the largest
producer), Peru, Australia and the USA. Around 10 thousand tons are produced annually.
Abundance
Seawater:
Uses
Used in alloys for jewellery, in many compounds, coins, photographic film and paper
electronics, solder, mirrors and batteries.
History
Silver has been known since antiquity. It has long been valued as a precious metal and
used in currency, ornaments and jewelry, as well as utensils (hence the term
silverware). Silver bullion has the ISO currency code of XAG. Today, it is also used in
photographic film, electrical contacts, and mirrors. Elemental silver is also used to
catalyze chemical reactions.
Notes
Silver has been used for thousands of years for ornaments and utensils, for trade, and
as the basis for many monetary systems. Its value as a precious metal was long
considered second only to gold. In Ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe, it was often
more valuable than gold.
Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper, although other
elements, such as germanium, zinc, platinum, silicon and boron can also be used to
improve various properties.
Cadmium [Cd]
CAS-ID: 7440-43-9
An: 48 N: 64
Am: 112.411 g/mol
Group No: 12
Density: 8.65g/cm3
Who: Fredrich Stromeyer
When: 1817
Where: Germany
Name Origin
Greek: kadmeia (ancient name for calamine (ZnCO3)); Latin: cadmia.
"Cadmium" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained as a by product of zinc refining. Occurs in rare ores such as Greenockite (CdS),
the only mineral cadmium of any importance.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
700 ppb by weight
39 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in nickel-cadmium batteries (about 75% of all cadmium is used in batteries),

nuclear reactor regulator, bearing alloys, solder and red/yellow pigments.
Compounds containing cadmium are used in black and white television phosphors and
also in the blue and green phosphors for colour television picture tubes.
Used in some semiconductors such as cadmium sulfide (CdS), cadmium selenide (CdSe),
and cadmium telluride (CdTe), which can be used for light detection or solar cells.
Mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) is sensitive to infrared.
Cadmium forms various salts, with cadmium sulfide (CdS) being the most common. This
sulfide is used as a yellow pigment. Cadmium selenide (CdSe) can be used as red
pigment, commonly called cadmium red.
History
Cadmium (Latin cadmia, Greek kadmeia meaning "calamine") was discovered in

Germany in 1817 by Friedrich Strohmeyer. Strohmeyer found the new element within an
impurity in zinc carbonate (calamine) and for 100 years Germany remained the only
important producer of the metal. The metal was named after the Latin word for calamine
since the metal was found in this zinc compound. Strohmeyer noted that some impure
samples of calamine changed colour when heated but pure calamine did not.
Even though cadmium and its compounds are highly toxic, the British Pharmaceutical
Codex from 1907 states that cadmium iodide was used as a medicine to treat "enlarged
joints, scrofulous glands, and chilblains".
Notes
Cadmium is a soft ductile metal that can easily be cut with a knife.
Hazards
Cadmium is extremely poisonous, even in low concentrations. Many cadmium

compounds are believed to be carcinogenic.
Cadmium is harmful to aquatic organisms and water treatment plants.
Indium [In]
CAS-ID: 7440-74-6
An: 49 N: 66
Am: 114.818 (3) g/mol
Group No: 13
Group Name: Metals
Colour: Silvery lustrous grey Classification: Metallic
Density: 7.31g/cm3
Availability: Indium is available in several forms including bar, foil, pieces, powder,
nanosized activated powder, rod, shot, sheet, and wire.
Who: Ferdinand Reich, H. Richter
When: 1863
Where: Germany
Name Origin
From the indigo blue it shows in a spectroscope.
"Indium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in certain zinc, copper, iron and lead ores. Canada is the leading producer of
indium.
Around 75 tons are produced every year.
Abundance
Uses
The first large-scale application for indium was as a coating for bearings in high-
performance aircraft engines during World War II. Afterwards, production gradually
increased as new uses were found in fusible alloys, solders, and electronics. In the
1950s, tiny beads of it were used for the emitters and collectors of alloy junction
transistors. In the middle and late 1980s, the development of indium phosphide
semiconductors and indium tin oxide thin films for liquid crystal displays (LCD) aroused
much interest. By 1992, the thin-film application had become the largest end use.
Used to coat high speed bearings, in solar cells, mirrors, regulators in nuclear power,
photo cells, the production of LCDs (this accounts for the majority of world-wide usage),
transistors and blood and lung research. Used in the manufacture of low-melting-
temperature alloys. An alloy consisting of 24% indium and 76% gallium is liquid at room
temperature.
Indium cano be plated onto metals and evaporated onto glass which forms a mirror
which is as good as those made with silver but has higher corrosion resistance.
History
Indium (named after the indigo line in its atomic spectrum) was discovered by Ferdinand
Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Richter in 1863 while they were testing zinc ores with a
spectrograph in search of thallium. It is interesting to note that most elements were
discovered while searching for other elements. Richter went on to isolate the metal in
1867.
Notes
The Earth is estimated to contain about 0.1 ppm of indium which means it is about as
abundant as silver, although indium is in fact nearly three times more expensive by
weight.
One unusual property of indium is that its most common isotope is slightly radioactive; it
very slowly decays by beta emission to tin. This radioactivity is not considered
hazardous, mainly because its half-life is 4.41 x 1014 years, four orders of magnitude
larger than the age of the universe and nearly 50,000 times longer than that of natural
thorium.
As a pure metal indium emits a high-pitched "cry" when it is bent.
Hazards
Pure indium in metal form is considered non-toxic. However, all indium compounds
should be regarded as highly toxic. Indium compounds damage the heart, kidney, and
liver, and may be teratogenic. Indium trichloride (anhydrous) (InCl3) is quite toxic, while
indium phosphide (InP) is both toxic and a suspected carcinogen.
Tin [Sn]
CAS-ID: 7440-31-5
An: 50 N: 69
Am: 118.710 g/mol
Group No: 14
Group Name: Metals
Colour: silvery lustrous grey Classification: Metallic
Density: (white) 7.265g/cm3
Density: (grey) 5.769g/cm3
Who: Known to the ancients. Tin is one of the earliest metals known and was used as a
component of bronze from antiquity. Because of its hardening effect on copper, tin was
used in bronze implements as early as 3,500 BC. Tin mining is believed to have started
in Cornwall and Devon (esp. Dartmoor), England, in Classical times, and a thriving tin
trade developed with the civilizations of the Mediterranean.
Name Origin
Symbol Sn from Latin: stannum (tin).
"Tin" in different languages.
Sources
Principally found in the ore cassiterite (SnO2) and stannine (Cu2FeSnS4) in Malaysia and
Indonesia, Zaire and Nigeria, Bolivia and Thailand. 35 countries throughout the world
mine tin. The pure metal is formed by reduction with coal.
Abundance
Seawater:
Pacific surface: n/a ppm
Pacific deep: n/a ppm
Human:
200 ppb by weight
11 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used as a coating for steel cans. Also in solder (33%Sn:67%Pb), bronze

(20%Sn:80%Cu), and pewter. Stannous fluoride (SnF5), a compound of tin and fluorine
is used in some toothpaste. It is also used in the manufacture of super conducting
magnets. While tin has many uses in alloys, it has few uses in it's pure elemental form.
Tin foil was once a common wrapping material for foods and drugs; now replaced by the
use of aluminium foil, which is commonly referred to as tin foil.
In 2006, the categories of tin use were solder (52%), tinplate (16%), chemicals (13%),
brass and bronze (5.5%), glass (2%), and variety of other applications (11%).
History
Tin is one of the earliest metals known and was used as a component of bronze from
antiquity. Because of its hardening effect on copper, tin was used in bronze implements
as early as 3,500 BC. Tin mining is believed to have started in Cornwall and Devon (esp.
Dartmoor) in Classical times, and a thriving tin trade developed with the civilizations of
the Mediterranean. However the lone metal was not used until about 600 BC. The last
Cornish Tin Mine, at South Crofty near Camborne closed in 1998 bringing 4,000 years of
mining in Cornwall to an end.
The word "tin" has cognates in many Germanic and Celtic languages. The American
Heritage Dictionary speculates that the word was borrowed from a pre-Indo-European
language. The later name "stannum" and its Romance derivatures come from the lead-
silver alloy of the same name for the finding of the latter in ores; the former "stagnum"
was the word for a stale pool or puddle.
In modern times, the word "tin" is often improperly used as a generic phrase for any
silvery metal that comes in sheets. Most everyday materials that are commonly called
"tin", such as aluminium foil, beverage cans, corrugated building sheathing and tin cans,
are actually made of steel or aluminium, although tin cans (tinned cans) do contain a
thin coating of tin to inhibit rust. Likewise, so-called "tin toys" are usually made of steel,
and may or may not have a coating of tin to inhibit rust.
Notes
Tin becomes a superconductor below 3.72K. Tin was one of the first superconductors to
be studied.
This metal resists corrosion from distilled, sea and soft tap water, but can be attacked by
strong acids, alkalis, and by acid salts. Tin acts as a catalyst when oxygen is in solution
and helps accelerate chemical attack.
Tin is the element with the greatest number of stable isotopes (ten). 18 additional
unstable isotopes are known.
Hazards
The small amount of tin that is found in canned foods is not harmful to humans. Certain
organic tin compounds, such as triorganotins are toxic and are used as industrial
fungicides and bactericides.
Tin powder is highly flammable, it can in powder form lead to dust explosions.
Antimony [Sb]
CAS-ID: 7440-36-0
An: 51 N: 71
Am: 121.760 (1) g/mol
Group No: 15

Colour: silvery lustrous grey Classification: Semi-metallic
Density: 6.697g/cm3
Availability: Commercial forms of antimony are generally ingots, broken pieces,

granules, and cast cake. Other forms are powder, shot, and single crystals.
Who: Known to the ancients. An artefact made of antimony dating to about 3000 BC
was found at Tello, Chaldea (part of present day Iraq), and a copper object plated with
antimony dating between 2500 BC and 2200 BC has been found in Egypt.
Name Origin
Greek: anti (opposed) monos (solitude). Sb comes from the latin, to mark. The exact
origin of the name Antimony and the symbol Sb is a matter of much speculation, with
little actual proof.
"Antimony" in different languages.
Sources
Found in stibnite (Sb2S3) and in valentinite (Sb2O3). Even though this element is not
abundant, it is found in over 100 mineral species.
The majority of antimony comes from China, other important reserves are found in Italy,
Peru, Mexico, Bolivia and France. Annual production is around 53 thousand tons.
Abundance
Uses
Antimony is increasingly being used in the semiconductor industry in the production of

diodes and infrared detectors.
Used to the strength and hardness of lead alloys. The most important use of antimony is
as a hardener in lead for storage batteries.
It is also used in small arm and tracer bullets, cable sheathing, matches, medicines, and
bearings in internal cumbustion engines.
Antimony compounds in the form of oxides, sulfides, sodium antimonate (NaO3Sb), and
antimony trichloride (SbCl3) are used in the making of flame-proofing compounds,
ceramic enamels, glass, paints, and pottery. Antimony trioxide (Sb2O3) is the most
important of the antimony compounds and is primarily used in flame-retardant
formulations. These flame-retardant applications include such markets as children's
clothing, toys, aircraft and automobile seat covers.
History
Antimony's sulfide compound, antimony (III) trisulfide, Sb2S3 was recognized in

antiquity, at least as early as 3000 BC. Pastes of Sb2S3 powder in fat or in other
materials have been used since that date as eye cosmetics in the Middle East and farther
afield; in this use, Sb2S3 is called "kohl". It was used to darken the brows and lashes, or
to draw a line around the perimeter of the eye.
An artefact made of antimony dating to about 3000 BC was found at Tello, Chaldea (part
of present day Iraq), and a copper object plated with antimony dating between 2500 BC
and 2200 BC has been found in Egypt.
Notes
Antimony in its elemental form is a silvery white, brittle, fusible, crystalline solid that
exhibits poor electrical and heat conductivity properties and vapourizes at low
temperatures. A metalloid, antimony resembles a metal in its appearance and physical
properties, but does not chemically react as a metal. It is also attacked by oxidizing
acids and halogens. Antimony and some of its alloys are unusual in that they expand on
cooling.
Hazards
Antimony and many of its compounds are toxic. Clinically, antimony poisoning is very
similar to arsenic poisoning. In small doses, antimony causes headache, dizziness, and
depression. Larger doses cause violent and frequent vomiting, and will lead to death in
few days. It is a skin, eye and respiratory irritant.
Tellurium [Te]
CAS-ID: 13494-80-9
An: 52 N: 76
Am: 127.60 g/mol
Group No: 16
Colour: silvery lustrous grey Classification: Semi-metallic

Density: 6.24g/cm3
Who: Franz Muller von Reichenstein
When: 1782
Where: Romania
Name Origin
Greek: tellus (the Earth).
"Tellurium" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained as a by-product of copper and lead refining. Also found in the mineral
calaverite (AuTe2). Most tellurium is produced in the USA, Canada, Peru and Japan.
Annual production is around 220 tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Uses
Used to improve the machining quality of metal products and to colour glass and
ceramics. Also used in thermoelectric devices (bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3)), vulcanization
of rubber, percussion caps, battery plate protectors and electrical resistors.
It is added to lead to improve its strength and durability, and to decrease the corrosive
action of sulfuric acid (H2SO4). When added to stainless steel and copper it makes these
metals more workable. It is alloyed into cast iron for chill control.
When alloyed with both cadmium and mercury, to form mercury cadmium telluride, an
infrared sensitive semiconductor material is formed.
Tellurium is being used (as GeSbTe, an alloy of germanium, antimony and tellurium) in
the new phase change memory chips developed by Intel.
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is used in solar panels. NREL lab tests using this material
achieved some of the highest efficiencies for solar cell electric power generation.
History
Tellurium (Latin tellus meaning "earth") was discovered in 1782 by the Hungarian Franz-
Joseph Muller von Reichenstein (Muller Ferenc) in Nagyszeben (now, Sibiu) Transylvania.
In 1789, another Hungarian scientist, Pal Kitaibel, also discovered the element
independently, but later he gave the credit to Muller. In 1798, it was named by Martin
Heinrich Klaproth who earlier isolated it.
Tellurium was used as a chemical bonder in the making of the outer shell of the first
atom bomb. The 1960s brought growth in thermoelectric applications for tellurium, as
well as its use in free-machining steel, which became the dominant use.
Notes
It is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, the conductivity of this element increases
slightly when exposed to light. It can be doped with copper, gold, silver, tin, or other
metals. Tellurium gives a greenish-blue flame when burned in normal air and forms
tellurium dioxide as a result. When in its molten state, tellurium is corrosive to copper,
iron, and stainless steel.
128
Te has the longest known half-life, 2.2 x 1024 years, among all radioactive isotopes.
Hazards
Humans exposed to as little as 0.01 mg/m3 or less in air develop "tellurium breath",
which has a garlic-like odour. The garlic odour that is associated with human intake of
tellurium compounds is caused from the tellurium being metabolized by the body. When
the body metabolizes tellurium in any oxidation state, the tellurium gets converted into
dimethyl telluride, which is volatile and produces the garlic-like smell.
Tellurium and tellurium compounds should be considered to be toxic and need to be

handled with care.
Iodine [I]
CAS-ID: 7553-56-2
An: 53 N: 74
Am: 126.90447 (3) g/mol
Group No: 17
Group Name: Halogen
Colour: Violet-dark grey, lustrous Classification: Non-metallic

Density: 4.933g/cm3
Who: Bernard Courtois
When: 1804
Where: France
Name Origin
Greek: iodes (violet).
"Iodine" in different languages.
Sources
Occurs on land and in the sea in sodium and potassium compounds. Although the
element is actually quite rare, kelp and certain other plants have the ability to
concentrate iodine, which helps introduce the element into the food chain as well as
keeping its cost down.
Primary producers are Chile (c.66%) and Japan and the USA. Annual production is
around 12 thousand tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
200 ppb by weight
10 ppb by atoms
Uses
Required in small amounts by humans. Once used as an antiseptic, but no longer due to
its poisonous nature. Silver iodide (AgI) is used in photography. Tungsten iodide is used
to stabilise the filaments in light bulbs. Iodine-131 is used as a tracer in medicine.
Potassium iodide (KI tablets, or "SSKI" = "Super-Saturated KI" liquid drops) can be
given to people in a nuclear disaster area when fission has taken place, to flush out the
radioactive iodine-131 fission product. The half-life of iodine-131 is only eight days, so
the treatment would need to continue only a couple of weeks. In cases of leakage of
certain nuclear materials without fission, or certain types of dirty bomb made with other
than radioiodine, this precaution would be of no avail.
Tungsten iodide (WI) is used to stabilize the filaments in light bulbs.
Iodine-123 and iodine-125 are used in medicine as tracers for imaging and evaluating
the function of the thyroid.
Iodine-131 is used in medicine for treatment of thyroid cancer and Grave's disease.
History
Iodine was discovered by Bernard Courtois in 1811. He was born to a manufacturer of

saltpeter (a vital part of gunpowder). At the time France was at war, saltpeter, a
component of gunpowder, was in great demand. Saltpeter produced from French niter
beds required sodium carbonate, which could be isolated from seaweed washed up on
the coasts of Normandy and Brittany. To isolate the sodium carbonate, seaweed was
burned and the ash then washed with water. The remaining waste was destroyed by
adding sulfuric acid. One day Courtois added too much sulfuric acid and a cloud of
purple vapour rose. Courtois noted that the vapour crystallized on cold surfaces making
dark crystals. Courtois suspected that this was a new element but lacked the money to
pursue his observations.
However he gave samples to his friends, Charles Bernard Desormes (1777 - 1862) and
Nicolas Clement (1779 - 1841), to continue research. He also gave some of the
substance to Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778 - 1850), a well-known chemist at that
time, and to Andre-Marie Ampere (1775 - 1836). On 29 November 1813, Dersormes and
Clement made public Courtois' discovery. They described the substance to a meeting of
the Imperial Institute of France. On December 6, Gay-Lussac announced that the new
substance was either an element or a compound of oxygen. Ampere had given some of
his sample to Humphry Davy (1778 - 1829). Davy did some experiments on the
substance and noted its similarity to chlorine. Davy sent a letter dated December 10 to
the Royal Society of London stating that he had identified a new element. A large
argument erupted between Davy and Gay-Lussac over who identified iodine first but
both scientists acknowledged Bernard Courtois as the first to isolate the chemical
element.
Notes
It is an essential trace element; the thyroid hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine

contain iodine.
Iodine is a dark-gray/purple-black solid that sublimes at standard temperatures into a

purple-pink gas that has an irritating odour. This halogen forms compounds with many
elements, but is less active than the other members of the halogens and has some
metallic-like properties.
Hazards
Toxic, many be fatal is swallowed or inhaled. Direct contact with skin can cause lesions,
so it should be handled with care. Iodine vapour is very irritating to the eye and to
mucous membranes.
When mixed with ammonia (NH3) it can form nitrogen triiodide (NI3) which is extremely
sensitive and can explode unexpectedly.
Xenon [Xe]
CAS-ID: 7440-63-3
An: 54 N: 77
Am: 131.293 (6) g/mol
Group No: 18
State: gas at 298 K
Boiling Point: 165.1K (-108°C)
Critical temperature: 289.7K (16.6°C)
Density: 5.894g/l
Availability: Xenon is a "noble" or "inert" gas present in the atmosphere to a small

extent (1 part in 20 million).
Who: Sir William Ramsey, M.W. Travers
When: 1898
Where: Great Britain
Name Origin
Greek: xenon (stranger or strange one).
"Xenon" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained from the small quantities in liquid air.
Xenon is relatively rare in the Sun's atmosphere, on Earth, and in the asteroids and
comets. The atmosphere of Mars shows a similar xenon abundance to that of Earth:
0.08 parts per million. However, Mars shows a higher proportion of 129Xe than the Earth
or the Sun. As this isotope is generated by radioactive decay, the result may indicate
that Mars lost most of its primordial atmosphere, possibly within the first 100 million
years after the planet was formed. By contrast, the planet Jupiter has an unusually high
abundance of xenon in its atmosphere; about 2.6 times as much as the Sun.
Abundance
Atmosphere: 0.86 ppm
Uses
Used in electronic flashes, projection lamps, UV lamps, and other powerful lamps. Also
used in bubble chambers and paint testers.
Preferred fuel for Ion Propulsion because of high molecular weight, ease of ionization,
store as a liquid at near room temperature (but at high pressure) yet easily converts
back into a gas to fuel the engine, inert nature makes it environmentally friendly and
less corrosive to an ion engine than other fuels such as mercury or caesium.
History
Xenon was discovered in England by William Ramsay and Morris Travers on July 12,
1898, shortly after their discovery of the elements krypton and neon. They found it in
the residue left over from evaporating components of liquid air.
Notes
Recently at the University of Helsinki in Finland some scientists have made HXeOH and
HXeCCH (xenon hydride-hydroxide and hydroxenoacetylene), they are stable up to 40K.
Because xenon is heavier than air, the speed of sound in xenon is slower than that in
air, and when inhaled, lowers the resonant frequencies of the vocal tract. This produces
a characteristic lowered voice pitch, analogous to the high-pitched voice caused by
inhalation of helium. The inhalation of xenon is more dangerous than that inhalation of
helium. Inhalation can cause mild-to-moderate, short-lasting effects, including a
pounding sensation associated with light and sound.
Using gigapascals of pressure, xenon has been forced into a metallic phase.
Hazards
Xenon is non-toxic, but many of its compounds are toxic due to their strong oxidative
properties.
Caesium [Cs]
CAS-ID: 7440-46-2
An: 55 N: 78
Am: 132.90545 g/mol

Group No: 1
State: solid at 298 K (but melts only slightly above this temperature)
Colour: silvery gold Classification: Metallic
Density: 1.93g/cm3
Who: Gustov Kirchoff, Robert Bunsen
When: 1860
Where: Germany
Name Origin
Latin: caesius (sky blue); its salts turn flames blue.
"Caesium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in pollucite and as trace in lepidolite (KLi2Al(Al,Si)3O10(F,OH)2). World production is

around 20 tons per year.
Abundance
Seawater: 3 x 104 ppm
Human:
20 ppb by weight
1 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used as a 'getter' to remove air traces in vacuum tubes. Since it ionizes readily, it is
used as an ion rocket motor propellant. Also used in photoelectric cells, atomic clocks,
infrared lamps.
Radioactive isotopes of caesium are used in the medical field to treat certain types of
cancer.
This metal is also used in photoelectric cells due to its ready emission of electrons.
History
Caesium (Latin caesius meaning "sky blue" or "light blue") was spectroscopically
discovered by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff in 1860 in mineral water from
Durkheim, Germany. Its identification was based upon the bright blue lines in its
spectrum and it was the first element discovered by spectrum analysis. The first caesium
metal was produced in 1882 by Carl Setterberg. Historically, the most important use for
caesium has been in research and development, primarily in chemical and electrical
applications.
Notes
Also know as cesium in the United States.
Along with gallium, francium and mercury, caesium is among the only metals that are
liquid at or near room temperature.
Caesium has at least 39 known isotopes which is more than any other element, except
francium. Although only one of these is naturally occurring and stable, Cs-133.
Caesium is most notably used in atomic clocks, which are accurate to seconds in many
thousands of years. SI defines the second as (exactly) 9,192,631,770 cycles of the
radiation which corresponds to the transition between two energy levels of the ground
state of the 133Cs atom.
Hazards
Caesium is considered highly toxic. Caesium reacts explosively in cold water and also
reacts with ice at temperatures above -116°C.
Caesium is highly flammable in powder form.
Barium [Ba]
CAS-ID: 7440-39-3
An: 56 N: 81
Am: 137.327 (7) g/mol
Group No: 2
State: solid

Density: 3.51g/cm3
When: 1808
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: barys (heavy or dense).
"Barium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in barytine (BaSO4) and witherite (BaCO3), never found in pure form due to its
high reactivity.
Important mining areas are the UK, Italy, Czech Republic, the USA and Germany.
Annual production is around 6 million tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Human:
300 ppb by weight
14 ppb by atoms
Uses
An alloys with nickel is used in sparkplug wire. Barium oxide (BaO) is used in a coating
for the electrodes of fluorescent lamps.
Barium sulfate is a good x-ray absorber, used in x-ray diagnostic work for obtaining
images of the digestive system (barium meals and barium enemas).
Barium carbonate (BaCO3) is used in glassmaking and also as a rat poison and can be
used in making bricks.
Barium nitrate (Ba(NO3)2) and barium chlorate are used to give fireworks green colours.
History
Barium was first identified in 1774 by Karl Scheele and extracted in 1808 by Sir
Humphry Davy in England. The oxide was at first called barote, by Guyton de Morveau,
which was changed by Antoine Lavoisier to baryta, from which "barium" was derived to
describe the metal.
Notes
Barium is a metallic element that is chemically similar to calcium, yet is soft and in its
pure form is silvery white resembling lead.
Must be stored under a petroleum-based fluid (such as kerosene) to remain pure.
Hazards
All water or acid soluble barium compounds are extremely poisonous. At low doses,
barium acts as a muscle stimulant, while higher doses affect the nervous system,
causing cardiac irregularities, tremors, weakness, anxiety, dyspnea and paralysis.
Lanthanum [La]
CAS-ID: 7439-91-0
An: 57 N: 82
Am: 138.9055 (2) g/mol
Group Name: Lanthanoids
Block: f-block Period: 6 (lanthanoid)
Superconducting temperature: 6K (-267°C)
Density: 6.162g/cm3
Who: Carl Mosander
When: 1839
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: lanthanein (to lie hidden).
"Lanthanum" in different languages.
Sources
Found with other rare earch elements in monazite and bastnasite. Primary producers are
the USA, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. Around 12500 tons are produced
annually.
Abundance
Seawater:
Uses
Because it gives glass refractive properties, it is used in expensive camera lenses. Also
used in lighter flints, studio lighting, battery electrodes and catalytic converters.
Lanthanum is silvery white, malleable, ductile, and soft enough to be cut with a knife. It
is one of the most reactive of the rare-earth metals. It oxidises rapidly when exposed to
air. Cold water attacks lanthanum slowly, and hot water attacks it much more rapidly.
The metal reacts directly with elemental carbon, nitrogen, boron, selenium, silicon,
phosphorus, sulfur, and with halogens. It is a component of misch metal (used for
making lighter flints). Some rare-earth chlorides, such as lanthanum chloride (LaCl3),
are known to have anticoagulant properties.
Small amounts of lanthanum added to steel improves its malleability, resistance to

impact and ductility; added to iron helps to produce nodular cast iron; added to
molybdenum decreases the hardness of this metal and its sensitivity to temperature
variations.
Hydrogen sponge alloys can contain lanthanum. These alloys are capable of storing up
to 400 times their own volume of hydrogen gas in a reversible adsorption process.
Lanthanum Hexaboride (LaB6) crystals are used in high brightness, extended life,
thermionic electron emission sources for scanning electron microscopes.
History
Lanthanum was discovered in 1839 by Swedish chemist Carl Gustav Mosander, when he
partially decomposed a sample of cerium nitrate by heating and treating the resulting
salt with dilute nitric acid. From the resulting solution, he isolated a new rare earth he
called lantana. Lanthanum was isolated in relatively pure form in 1923.
Lanthanum is the most strongly basic of all the trivalent lanthanoids, and this property is
what allowed Mosander to isolate and purify the salts of this element. Basicity separation
as operated commercially involved the fractional precipitation of the weaker bases (such
as "didymium") from nitrate solution by the addition of magnesium oxide or dilute
ammmonia gas. Purified lanthanum remained in solution. (The basicity methods were
only suitable for lanthanum purification; "didymium" could not be efficiently further
separated in this manner.) The alternative technique of fractional crystallization was
invented by Dimitry Mendeleev himself, in the form of the double ammonium nitrate
tetrahydrate, which he used to separate the less-soluble lanthanum from the more-
soluble "didymium" in the 1870's. This system would be used commercially in lanthanum
purification until the development of practical solvent extraction methods that started in
the late 1950's. (A detailed process using the double ammonium nitrates to provide 4N
pure lanthanum, neodymium concentrates and praseodymium concentrates is presented
in Callow 1967, at a time when the process was just becoming obsolete.) As operated
for lanthanum purification, the double ammonium nitrates were recrystallized from
water. When later adapted by Carl Auer won Welsbach for the splitting of "didymium",
nitric acid was used as solvent to lower the solubiity of the system. Lanthanum is
relatively easy to purify, since it has only one adjacent lanthanoids, cerium, which itself
is very readily removed due to its potential tetravalency.
Notes
Cold water attacks lanthanum slowly, while hot water attacks it much more rapidly.
Hazards
In animals, the injection of lanthanum solutions produces glycaemia, low blood pressure,
degeneration of the spleen and hepatic alterations.
Lanthanum dust presents a fire and explosion hazard.
Hafnium [Hf]
CAS-ID: 7440-58-6
An: 72 N: 106
Am: 178.49 g/mol
Group No: 4

Colour: grey steel Classification: Metallic
Density: 13.31g/cm3
Who: Dirk Coster, George Hevesy
When: 1923
Where: Denmark
Name Origin
From Hafnia, the Latin name of Copenhagen.
"Hafnium" in different languages.
Sources
Hafnium does not exist in nature in elemental form. Obtained from the minerals alvite
([(Hf, Th, Zr)SiO4.H2O]), thortveitite ((Sc,Y)2Si2O7) and zircon (ZrSiO4 which usually
contain between 1 and 5% hafnium.
Abundance
Uses
Used in gas-filled and incandescent lamps, reactor control rods because of its ability to
absorb neutrons also as a gas scavenger in vacuum tubes. Used as the electrode in
plasma cutting because of its ability to shed electrons into air.
It is also used in iron, titanium, niobium, tantalum and other metal alloys.
History
The existence of a gap in the periodic table for an as-yet undiscovered element 72 was
predicted by Henry Moseley in 1914. Hafnium (Latin Hafnia for "Copenhagen", the home
town of Niels Bohr) was discovered by Dirk Coster and Georg von Hevesy in 1923 in
Copenhagen, Denmark, validating the original 1869 prediction of Mendeleev. Soon after,
the new element was predicted to be associated with zirconium by using the Bohr theory
and was finally found in zircon through X-ray spectroscope analysis in Norway.
It was separated from zirconium through repeated recrystallization of double ammonium

or potassium fluorides by Jantzen and von Hevesy. Metallic hafnium was first prepared
by Anton Eduard van Arkel and Jan Hendrik de Boer by passing hafnium tetraiodide
vapour over a heated tungsten filament. This process for differential purification of Zr
and Hf is still in use today.
Notes
A man made radioactive element and the first transactinide element.
Hazards
Care needs to be taken when machining hafnium because when it is divided into fine
particles, it is pyrophoric and can ignite spontaneously in air.
Tantalum [Ta]
CAS-ID: 7440-25-7
An: 73 N: 108
Am: 180.9479 g/mol
Group No: 5
Colour: grey blue Classification: Metallic
Density: 16.69g/cm3
Who: Anders Ekeberg
When: 1802
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
From king Tantalus of Greek mythology.

"Tantalum" in different languages.
Sources
Chiefly occurs in the mineral tantalite [(Fe, Mn) Ta2O6] and euxenite (as well as
samarskite and fergusonite). Always found with niobium. Tantalum ores are mined in
Australia, Brazil, Eqypt, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria,
Portugal, Malaysia and Thailand.
Around 840 tons are produced annually.
Abundance
Universe: 8 x 10-5 ppm (by weight)
Uses
Used to produce metals that have high melting points, are strong and have good
ductility. Alloyed with other metals, it is also used in making carbide tools for
metalworking equipment and in the production of superalloys for jet engine components,
chemical process equipment, nuclear reactors, and missile parts. Because of its ductility,
tantalum can be drawn into fine wires or filaments, which are used for evaporating
metals such as aluminium.
Tantalum pentoxide is used in capacitors, condensers, cutting tools, vacuum tube

filaments and in camera lenses to increase refracting power. Because it is totally immune
to the action of body liquids and is nonirritating it is widely used in making surgical
appliances.
History
Tantalum was discovered in Sweden in 1802 by Anders Ekeberg and isolated in 1820 by
Jöns Berzelius. Many contemporary chemists believed niobium and tantalum were the
same elements until 1844 and later 1866 when researchers showed that niobic and
tantalic acids were different compounds. Early investigators were only able to isolate
impure metal and the first relatively pure ductile metal was produced by Werner von
Bolton in 1903. Wires made with tantalum metal were used for light bulbs until tungsten
replaced it.
Its name is derived from the character Tantalus, father of Niobe in Greek mythology,
who was punished after death by being condemned to stand knee-deep in water with
perfect fruit growing above his head, both of which eternally tantalized him - if he bent
to drink the water, it drained below the level he could reach, and if he reached for the
fruit, the branches moved out of his grasp. This was considered similar to tantalum's
general non-reactivity-it sits among reagents and is unaffected by them. The English
word tantalize was named after Tantalus, and tantalum was named after the tantalizing
problems posed by the inertness of the element and its compounds.
For many years, the commercial technology for separating tantalum from niobium
involved the fractional crystallization of potassium heptafluorotantalate away from
potassium oxypentafluoroniobate monohydrate, that had been discovered by Marignac in
the 1860s. The method has been supplanted by solvent extraction from fluoride-
containing solutions.
Notes
The metal is renowned for its resistance to corrosion by acids; in fact, at temperatures
below 150°C tantalum is almost completely immune to attack by the normally
aggressive aqua regia. It can only be dissolved with hydrofluoric acid or acidic solutions
containing the fluoride ion and sulfur trioxide (SO3).
Previously know as tantalium.
Hazards
There is some evidence that tantalum compounds can cause tumors. Its metal dust is a
fire and explosion hazard, and may also act as an irritant.
Tungsten [W]
CAS-ID: 7440-33-7
An: 74 N: 110
Am: 183.84 g/mol
Group No: 6
Colour: greyish white, lustrous Classification: Metallic
Density: 19.25g/cm3
Who: Fausto and Juan Jose de Elhuyar
When: 1783
Where: Spain
Name Origin
Swedish: tungs ten (heavy stone): W symbol from its German name wolfram.
"Tungsten" in different languages.

Sources
Occurs in the minerals scheelite (CaWO4), wolframite [(Fe,Mn)WO4], ferberite (FeWO4)

and huebnerite (MnWO4). China produces about 70% of the world's supply, but
important deposits lie in Bolivia, USA (California, Colorado), Portugal, Russia as well as
South Korea.
Abundance
Uses
Tungsten is a metal with a wide range of uses, the largest of which is as tungsten
carbide (W2C, WC), which is one the hardest substances in existence. Cemented
carbides (also called hardmetals) are wear-resistant materials used by the
metalworking, mining, petroleum and construction industries. Tungsten is widely used in
light bulb and vacuum tube filaments, as well as electrodes, because it can be drawn
into very thin metal wires that have a high melting point.
When alloyed in small quantities with steel, it greatly increases its hardness. Used widely
in the electronics industry. Made into filaments for vacuum tubes and electric lights. Also
used in contact points in cars, heat sinks, weights, counterweights, welding electrodes,
rocket nozzles and cutting tools. Combined with calcium or magnesium it makes
phosphors.
Composites are used as a substitute for lead in bullets and shot.
Recently, Tungsten Carbide has been used in the fashioning of jewellery due to its
hypoallergenic nature and the fact that due to its extreme hardness it is not apt to lose
its luster like other polished metals.
History
Tungsten (Swedish tung sten meaning "heavy stone"), even though the current name for
the element in Swedish is wolfram (sometimes spelled in Swedish as volfram), from the
denomination volf rahm by Wallerius in 1747, translated from the description by Agricola
in 1546 as Lupi spuma, meaning "wolf's froth" after the way tin is eaten up like a wolf
after sheep in the process of its extraction.
It was first hypothesized to exist by Peter Woulfe in 1779 who examined wolframite and
concluded that it must contain a new substance. In 1781 Karl Wilhelm Scheele
ascertained that a new acid could be made from tungstenite. Scheele and Torbern
Bergman suggested that it could be possible to obtain a new metal by reducing tungstic
acid. In 1783 Jose and Fausto Elhuyar found an acid in wolframite that was identical to
tungstic acid. In Spain later that year the brothers succeeded in isolating tungsten
through reduction of this acid with charcoal. They are credited with the discovery of the
element.
In World War II, tungsten played an enormous role in background political dealings.
Portugal, as the main European source of the element, was put under pressure from
both sides, because of its sources of wolframite ore. The resistance to high
temperatures, as well as the extreme strength of its alloys, made the metal into a very
important raw material for the weaponry industry.
Notes
Some sources give the German chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele as the first to isolate the
metal, three years before the d'Elhuyar brothers, in 1780.
The light bulb manufacturer OSRAM (founded in 1906 when three German companies;
Auer-Gesellerschaft, AEG and Siemens and Halske combined their lamp production
facilities), derived its name from the elements of OSmium and wolfRAM - OSRAM.
Hazards
Tungsten dust is flammable and may act as a respiratory irritant.
Rhenium [Re]
CAS-ID: 7440-15-5
An: 75 N: 111
Am: 186.207 (1) g/mol
Group No: 7
State: solid
Colour: greyish white Classification: Metallic
Density: 21.02g/cm3
Availability: Many forms including foil, powder, ribbon, rod, and wire.
Who: Walter Noddack, Ida Tacke, Otto Berg
When: 1925
Where: Germany
Name Origin
From the Rhines provinces of Germany.
"Rhenium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in small amounts in gadolinite ((Ce,La,Nd,Y)2FeBe2Si2O10) and molybdenite

(MoS2). This element is widely spread through the Earth's crust at approximately 0.001
parts per million. Annual production is around 4.5 tons.
Abundance
Uses
It is added to tungsten and molybdenum alloys and is used in refractory metal

components of missiles, electronic filaments, electrical contacts, high-temperature
thermocouplers, oven filaments, electrodes, igniters for flash bulbs, jewellery, plating of
metals by electrolysis and vapour-phase deposition.
History
Rhenium was the last naturally occurring element to be discovered. The existence of a
yet undiscovered element at this position in the periodic table had been predicted by
Henry Moseley in 1914. It is generally considered to have been discovered by Walter
Noddack, Ida Tacke, and Otto Berg in Germany. In 1925 they reported that they
detected the element in platinum ore and in the mineral columbite. They also found
rhenium in gadolinite ([(Fe, Mn)(Nb, Ta)2O6]) and molybdenite (MoS2). In 1928 they
were able to extract 1 g of element by processing 660 kg of molybdenite.
The process was so complicated and the cost so high that production was discontinued
until early 1950 when tungsten-rhenium and molybdenum-rhenium alloys were
prepared. These alloys found important applications in industry that resulted in a great
demand for the rhenium produced from the molybdenite fraction of porphyry copper
ores.
In 1908, Japanese chemist Masataka Ogawa announced that he discovered the 43rd
element, and named it nipponium (Np) after Japan (which is Nippon in Japanese).
However, later analysis indicated the presence of rhenium (element 75), not element 43.
The symbol Np was later used for the element neptunium.
Notes
Rhenium is a metallic element that has a very high tensile strength (80,000psi), high
modulus of elasticity, is virtually insoluble in hydrochloric acid and does not oxidize or
corrode in saltwater. In addition it has the widest range of valences of any element and
it retains its crystalline structure all the way to its melting point. Alloys of rhenium-
molybdenum are superconductive at 10K.
Rhenium was the last naturally-occurring element to be discovered, and belongs to the
group of ten most expensive metals on Earth.
Osmium [Os]
CAS-ID: 7440-04-2
An: 76 N: 114
Am: 190.23 (3) g/mol
Group No: 8
Colour: bluish grey Classification: Metallic
Density: 22.61g/cm3
Who: Smithson Tenant
When: 1804
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: osme (odour). A metal with pungent smell.
"Osmium" in different languages.
Sources
Obtained from the same ores as platinum.
Turkey, with 127,000 tons, has the world's largest known reserve of osmium. Bulgaria
also has substantial reserves of about 2500 tons. This transition metal is also found in
iridiosmium, a naturally occurring alloy of iridium and osmium, and in platinum-bearing
river sands in the Ural Mountains, and North and South America. It also occurs in nickel-
bearing ores found in the Sudbury, Ontario region with other platinum group metals.
Even though the quantity of platinum metals found in these ores is small, the large
volume of nickel ores processed makes commercial recovery possible.
Abundance
Earth's Crust: 1.8 x 10-3 ppm
Uses
Because of the extreme toxicity of its oxide, osmium is rarely used in its pure state, and
is instead often alloyed with other metals that are used in high wear applications. An
alloy of 90% platinum and 10% osmium (90/10) is used in surgical implants such as
pacemakers and replacement pulmonary valves.
Osmium tetroxide (OsO4) has been used in fingerprint detection and in staining fatty
tissue for microscope slides.
Used to tip gold pen points, instrument pivots (such as compass needles and clock
bearings), to make electric light filaments. Used for high temperature alloys and
pressure bearings.
History
Osmium (Greek osme meaning "a smell") was discovered in 1803 by Smithson Tennant
and William Hyde Wollaston in London, England.
Wollaston and Tennant were looking for a way to purify platinum by dissolution of native
platinum ore in aqua regia. Large amounts of insoluble black powder remained as a
byproduct of this operation.
Wollaston concentrated on the soluble portion and discovered palladium (in 1802) and
rhodium (in 1804), while Tennant examined the insoluble residue. In the summer of
1803, Tennant identified two new elements; osmium and iridium. Discovery of the new
elements was documented in a letter to the Royal Society on June 21, 1804.
Notes
Osmium in a metallic form is extremely dense, blue white, brittle and lustrous even at
high temperatures, but proves to be extremely difficult to make.
Osmium metal has the highest melting point and the lowest vapour pressure of the
platinum family.
One cubic metre of osmium would weigh about 22.65 tonnes!
The light bulb manufacturer OSRAM (founded in 1906 when three German companies;
Auer-Gesellerschaft, AEG and Siemens and Halske combined their lamp production
facilities), derived its name from the elements of OSmium and wolfRAM - OSRAM.
Hazards
Because of the extreme toxicity of its oxide, osmium is rarely used in its pure state, and
is instead often alloyed with other metals that are used in high wear applications.
Iridium [Ir]
CAS-ID: 7439-88-5
An: 77 N: 115
Am: 192.217 (3) g/mol
Group No: 9
Density: 22.65g/cm3
Availability: Iridium is available in many forms including foil, sheet, wire, "evaporation
slugs", powder, and sponge.
Who: Smithson Tenant, A.F.Fourcory, L.N.Vauquelin, H.V.Collet-Descoltils
When: 1804
Where: England/France
Name Origin
Latin: iris, iridis (rainbow) as many of its salts are stronly coloured.
"Iridium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in gravel deposits with platinum. Naturally occurring iridium alloys include
iridiosmium and osmiridium, both of which are mixtures of iridium and osmium.
Although rare on Earth, iridium is common in meteorites.
Canada is the main producer of iridium. Around 3 tons are produced annually.
Abundance

Seawater: n/a ppm
Uses
Used with osmium to tip gold pen points, to make crucible and special containers (that
require high temperature resistance). Used to make alloys used for standard weights
and measures, and heat-resistant alloys. Also used in cancer irradiation, hypodermic
needles, helicopter spark plugs and as hardening agent for platinum.
History
Iridium was discovered in 1803 by British scientist Smithson Tennant in London, England
along with osmium in the dark-coloured residue of dissolving crude platinum in aqua
regia (a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid). The element was named after the Latin
word for rainbow (iris; iridium means "of rainbows") because many of its salts are
strongly coloured.
An alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium was used in 1889 to construct the standard
metre bar and kilogramme mass, kept by the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures near Paris. The metre bar was replaced as the definition of the fundamental
unit of length in 1960 (see krypton), but the kilogram prototype is still the international
standard of mass.
Notes
Due to its extreme hardness and brittle properties, iridium is difficult to machine, form,
or work. Iridium is the most corrosion-resistant metal known. Iridium cannot be
attacked by any acids or by aqua regia, but it can be attacked by molten salts, such as
NaCl and NaCN.
The global demand for iridium in 2007 was 3,700 kg, out of which 780 kg were used for
electrical applications such as spark plugs; 1,100 kg for electrochemical applications
such as electrodes for the chloralkali process; 750 kg for catalysis; and 1,100 kg for
other uses.
Iridium is rare on Earth, but relatively common in meteorites.
Hazards
Iridium metal is generally non-toxic, but its compounds should be regarded as highly
toxic.
Platinum [Pt]
CAS-ID: 7440-06-4
An: 78 N: 117
Am: 195.078 g/mol
Group No: 10
Group Name: Precious metal or platinum group metal
Colour: greyish white Classification: Metallic
Superconducting temperature: 0K (0°C)
Density: 21.45g/cm3
Who: Antonio de Ulloa and Don Jorge Juan y Santacilia
When: c1734
Where: Peru
Name Origin
Spanish: platina (little silver).
"Platinum" in different languages.
Sources
Produced from ores called native platinum. Primary producers are Russia, Canada, South
Africa, Colombia and Peru. Annual production is around 30 tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Uses
Used in jewellery, to make crucibles, special containers, as a catalyst (in catalytic
converters fixed to cars), in dental crowns, as an anti-tumor agent and to make
standard weights and measures. It is also combined with cobalt to produce very strong
magnets.
History
Naturally-occurring platinum and platinum-rich alloys have been known for a long time.
Though the metal was used by pre-Columbian Native Americans, the first European
reference to platinum appears in 1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius
Caesar Scaliger (1484-1558) as a description of a mysterious metal found in Central
American mines between Darien (Panama) and Mexico ("up until now impossible to melt
by any of the Spanish arts"). The word platinum comes from the Spanish word platina,
meaning "little silver."
Platinum was discussed by astronomer Antonio de Ulloa and Don Jorge Juan y Santacilia
(1713-1773), both appointed by King Philip V to join a geographical expedition in Peru
that lasted from 1735 to 1745. Among other things, Ulloa observed the platina del pinto,
the unworkable metal found with gold in New Granada (Colombia). British privateers
intercepted Ulloa's ship on the return voyage. Though he was well-treated in England,
and even made a member of the Royal Society he was prevented from publishing a
reference to the unknown metal until 1748. Before that could happen Charles Wood
independently isolated the element in 1741.
Notes
Discovered by astronomer Antonio de Ulloa and Don Jorge Juan y Santacilia during a
geographical expedition in Peru that lasted from 1735 to 1745. Ulloa observed the
unworkable metal found with gold in New Granada (Colombia). British privateers
intercepted Ulloa's ship on the return voyage. Though he was well-treated in England,
and even made a member of the Royal Society he was prevented from publishing a
reference to the unknown metal until 1748. It is thought that Charles Wood
independently isolated the element in 1741.
The Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger makes the first European reference to
Platinum in 1557, as a description of a mysterious metal found in Central American
mines between Darien (Panama) and Mexico.
Platinum is considered a precious metal and is traded on the world's commodities

exchanges, it's price fluctuates with availability, but is usually around twice that of gold.
Gold [Au]
CAS-ID: 7440-57-5
An: 79 N: 118
Am: 196.96655 g/mol
Group No: 11

Colour: gold (!) Classification: Metallic
Density: 19.3g/cm3
Who: Known to the ancients. Gold has been known and highly valued since prehistoric
times. It may have been the first metal used by humans and was valued for
ornamentation and rituals. Eqyptian hieroglyphs from as early as 2600BC mention gold.
The south-east corner of the Black Sea was famed for its gold. Exploitation is said to
date from the time of Midas, and this gold was important in the establishment of what is
probably the world's earliest coinage in Lydia between 643 and 630 BC.
Name Origin
Gold from old English word geolo (yellow); Au from Latin: aurum (gold).
"Gold" in different languages.
Sources
Found in veins in the crust, with copper ore and natively. Major producers include South
Africa, Canada, the United States and Western Australia.
Around 1400 tons are produced each year.
Abundance
Human:
100 ppb by weight
3 ppb by atoms
Uses
Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is hardened by alloying with silver, copper, and
other metals. These alloys are mostly used in jewellery and coinage.
White gold (an alloy of gold with platinum, palladium, nickel, and/or zinc) serves as a
substitute for solid platinum.
Gold is used in restorative dentistry especially in tooth restorations such as crowns and
permanent bridges as its slight maliablity makes a superior molar mating surface to
other teeth, unlike a harder ceramic crown.
History
Gold has been known and highly valued since prehistoric times. It may have been the
first metal used by humans and was valued for ornamentation and rituals. Egyptian
hieroglyphs from as early as 2600 BC describe gold, which king Tushratta of the Mitanni
claimed was "more plentiful than dirt" in Egypt. Egypt and Nubia had the resources to
make them major gold-producing areas for much of history. Gold is also mentioned
several times in the Old Testament, and is included with the gifts of the magi in the first
chapters of Matthew New Testament The south-east corner of the Black Sea was famed
for its gold. Exploitation is said to date from the time of Midas, and this gold was
important in the establishment of what is probably the world's earliest coinage in Lydia
between 643 and 630 BC.
The European exploration of the Americas was fueled in no small part by reports of the
gold ornaments displayed in great profusion by Native American peoples, especially in
Central America, Peru, and Colombia.
Although the price of some platinum group metals can be much higher, gold has long
been considered the most desirable of precious metals, and its value has been used as
the standard for many currencies (known as the gold standard) in history. Gold has been
used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and particularly roles that combine these
properties. Gold as a sign of wealth and prestige was made fun of by Thomas More in his
treatise Utopia. On that imaginary island, gold is so abundant that it is used to make
chains for slaves, tableware and lavatory-seats. When ambassadors from other countries
arrive, dressed in ostentatious gold jewels and badges, the Utopians mistake them for
menial servants, paying homage instead to the most modestly-dressed of their party.
During the 19th century, gold rushes occurred whenever large gold deposits were
discovered. The first major gold strike in the United States occurred in a small north
Georgia town called Dahlonega. Further gold rushes occurred in California, Colorado,
Otago, Australia, Witwatersrand, Black Hills, and Klondike.
Because of its historically high value, much of the gold mined throughout history is still
in circulation in one form or another.
Notes
On the 13th of March 2008 the price of gold reached $1000 per troy ounce (31.1035g)
for the first time in history. This works out at $32150 per kilogram!
It is the most malleable and ductile metal known; a single gram can be beaten into a
sheet of one square meter, or an ounce into 300 square feet.
Supposedly around half of the world's supply of gold is stored in the United States
Treasury Department's gold depository in Fort Knox Kentucky, which is considered to be
one of the most secure buildings in the world.
Because gold is traded like currencies, it has it's own ISO currency code, XAU (USD =
US dollars, GBP = GB Pounds sterling etc.).
Gold in antiquity was relatively easy to obtain geologically; however, 75% of all gold
ever produced has been extracted since 1910. It has been estimated that all the gold in
the world that has ever been refined would form a single cube 20 m (66 ft) on a side
(8000 m3).
At the end of 2001, it was estimated that all the gold ever mined totalled only 145,000
tonnes.
Mercury [Hg]
CAS-ID: 7439-97-6
An: 80 N: 121
Am: 200.59 g/mol
Group No: 12
State: liquid at 298 K (the heaviest known elemental liquid)
Density: (liquid) 13.534g/cm3
Who: Known to the ancients. Mercury was known to the ancient Chinese and Hindus,
and was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC. The ancient Greeks used
mercury in ointments and the Romans used it in cosmetics.
Name Origin
From the Greek god Mercury who was the messenger to the gods and was known for his
speed; Hg from mercury's Latin name Hydrargyrum, which comes from the Greek word
"hydrargyros" ("hydor" for water and "argyros" for silver).
"Mercury" in different languages.
Sources
Mercury is rarely found in native form. Most mercury is found in the minerals; cinnabar
(HgS)(the main source), corderoite (Hg3S2Cl2), livingstonite (HgSb4S8) as well as some
others.
50% of the world's mercury comes from Spain and Slovenia, with much of the rest
coming from Russia and the USA. Annual production is around 8400 tons.
Abundance
Seawater:
Uses
Used in thermometers, barometers, diffusion pumps, coulometers, fluorescent lamps,

mercury switches, insectisides, and batteries. Gaseous mercury is used in mercury-
vapour lamps. It is found in paint, batteries, thermometers, electrical equipment,
fluorescent lights and plastics. Batteries account for 88% of the mercury content in
municipal solid waste.
Mercury was once used in the amalgamation process of refining gold and silver ores.
This polluting practice is still used by the garimpeiros (gold miners) of the Amazon basin
in Brazil.
History
In China, India and Tibet, mercury use was thought to prolong life, heal fractures, and
maintain generally good health. China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di - said to have
been buried in a tomb that contained rivers of flowing mercury, representative of the
rivers of China - was driven insane and killed by mercury pills intended to give him
eternal life. The ancient Greeks used mercury in ointments and the Romans used it in
cosmetics. By 500 BC mercury was used to make amalgams with other metals. The
Indian word for alchemy is Rasavatam which means 'the way of mercury'. Alchemists
often thought of mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed.
Different metals could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of sulphur
contained within the mercury. An ability to transform mercury into any metal resulted
from the essentially mercurial quality of all metals. The purest of these was gold, and
mercury was required for the transmutation of base (or impure) metals into gold as was
the goal of many alchemists.
Hg is the modern chemical symbol for mercury. It comes from hydrargyrum, a Latinized
form of the Greek word "hydrargyros", which is a compound word meaning 'water' and
'silver' - since it is liquid, like water, and yet has a silvery metallic sheen. The element
was named after the Roman god Mercury, known for speed and mobility. It is associated
with the planet Mercury. The astrological symbol for the planet is also one of the
alchemical symbols for the metal. Mercury is the only metal for which the alchemical
planetary name became the common name.
Notes
Because of mercury's ability to rapidly corrode aluminium, transport by aircraft is

restricted.
Mercury's inert outer electrons cause its vapour to behaves like a noble gas this has led
to it being called pseudohelium.
Hazards
Highly toxic, long-term exposure may be fatal. It causes neurological and kidney
damage and blindness. Also associated with birth defects. Very damaging to aquatic life.
Thallium [Tl]
CAS-ID: 7440-28-0
An: 81 N: 123
Am: 204.3833 g/mol
Group No: 13
Group Name: Metals
Density: 11.85g/cm3
Who: Sir William Crookes
When: 1861
Where: England
Name Origin
Greek: thallos (young shoot) from a bright-green line in its spectrum.
"Thallium" in different languages.
Sources
Found in iron pyrites. Also in the minerals crookesite (TlCu7Se4), hutchinsonite

(TlPbAs5S9) and lorandite (TlAsS2). It is found in the Earth's crust at a concentration
estimated to be 0.6mg/kg. Annual production is around 30 tons.
Abundance
Uses
Its compounds were used in rat and ant poisons, but this use is no longer allowed in
many countries due to safety concerns. Also for in gamma radiation detecting
equipment, detecting infrared radiation and heart muscle research. Thallium sulfide's
electrical conductivity changes with exposure to infrared light therefore making this
compound useful in photocells.
Combined with sulfur or selenium and arsenic, thallium has been used in the production
of high-density glasses that have low melting points in the range of 125 and 150°C.
These glasses have room temperature properties that are similar to ordinary glasses and
are durable, insoluble in water and have unique refractive indices.
Thallium amalgam is used in thermometers for low temperature, because it freezes at -

58°C (pure mercury freezes at -38°C).
History
Thallium was discovered by Sir William Crookes in 1861 in England while he was making
spectroscopic determinations for tellurium on residues from a sulfuric acid plant. The
name comes from Thallium's bright green spectral emission lines. In 1862 Crookes and
Claude-Auguste Lamy isolated the metal independently of each other.
Notes
This metal is very soft and malleable and can be cut with a knife. When it is first
exposed to air, thallium has a metallic luster but quickly tarnishes with a bluish-gray
tinge that resembles lead (it is preserved by keeping it under oil). A heavy layer of oxide
builds up on thallium if left in air. In the presence of water, thallium hydroxide is formed.
Hazards
Thallium and its compounds are highly toxic and should be handled with great care.
Thallium is a suspected human carcinogen.
Thallium was once an effective murder weapon before its effects became understood
and an antidote (prussian blue) discovered.
Lead [Pb]
CAS-ID: 7439-92-1
An: 82 N: 125
Am: 207.2 (1) g/mol
Group No: 14
Group Name: Metals
Colour: bluish white Classification: Metallic
Density: 11.34g/cm3
Availability: Lead is available in several forms including foil, granules, ingots, powder,
rod, shot, sheet, and wire.
Who: Known to the ancients. Lead has been used by humans for at least 7000 years,
because it is widespread, easy to extract and easy to work with.
Name Origin
Latin: plumbum.
"Lead" in different languages.
Sources
Lead occurs rarely in nature. The main lead mineral is galena (lead sulfide, PbS) (which
is 86.6% lead). Lead is also found in ore with zinc, silver and (most abundantly) copper.
Primary producers are the USA, Australia, Mexico, Germany and France. Annual
production is around 2.8 million tons.
Abundance
Seawater:

Human:
1700 ppb by weight
50 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used in solder, as a colouring agent in ceramic glazes (red and yellow), shielding against
radiation, roofing, in (lead-acid) batteries and ammunition.
Lead is used in some candles to treat the wick to ensure a longer, more even burn.
Because of the dangers, European and North American manufacturers use more
expensive alternatives such as zinc.
History
Lead has been used by humans for at least 7000 years, because it is widespread, easy
to extract and easy to work with. It is highly malleable and ductile as well as easy to
smelt. In the early Bronze Age lead was used with antimony and arsenic. Alchemists
thought that lead was the oldest metal and associated it with the planet Saturn. Lead
pipes that bear the insignia of Roman emperors are still in service and many Roman
"pigs" (ingots) of lead figure in Derbyshire lead mining history and in the history of the
industry in other English centres. Lead's symbol Pb is an abbreviation of its Latin name
plumbum for soft metals; originally it was plumbum nigrum, where plumbum candidum
was tin. The English word "plumbing" also derives from this Latin root.
Lead is also very toxic, and lead poisoning was recognized even by the ancients.
Similarly, in the Twentieth Century, the use of lead in paint pigments was ended because
of the danger of lead poisoning, especially to children. By the mid-1980s, a significant
shift in lead end-use patterns had taken place. Much of this shift was a result of the U.S.
lead consumers' compliance with environmental regulations that significantly reduced or
eliminated the use of lead in nonbattery products, including gasoline, paints, solders,
and water systems. Recently, lead use is being further curtailed by the European Union's
RoHS directive. Lead may still be found in harmful quantities in stoneware, vinyl (such
as that used for tubing and the insulation of electrical cords), and brass manufactured in
China.
History
Lead has been used by humans for at least 7000 years, because it is widespread, easy
to extract and easy to work with. It is highly malleable and ductile as well as easy to
smelt. In the early Bronze Age lead was used with antimony and arsenic.
Lead pipes that bear the insignia of Roman emperors are still in service and many
Roman "pigs" (ingots) of lead figure in Derbyshire lead mining history and in the history
of the industry in other English centres.
Notes
Lead can be toughened by adding a small amount of antimony or other metals to it.
Hazards
Lead is extremely toxic, but its effects are accumulative and most often develop after
extended exposure. Lead affects the nervous system, causing mental retardation or
other nervous disorders. It also affects other organs of the body. People suffering from
lead poisoning may exhibit weakness, general disability, nervous disorders and eventual
death. Children are most susceptible, partly because they have rapid metabolism and
are small and partly because of their habits. They chew on things that might contain
lead paint and play on floors and ground that might be contaminated, often putting their
fingers in their mouth.
Lead is a poisonous metal that can damage nervous connections and cause blood and
brain disorders. A classic example of lead poisoning occurred in the early 1900's, but the
cause of death was only recently determined. A large number of explorer families
traveled to Alaska. The guide who escorted them contacted many different suppliers for
provisions. He got a really good deal on canned food that he couldn't refuse. They set
out on their journey and were never heard from again. Searchers never found any
survivors. Years later someone decided to find out what happened. Bodies were found
along with provisions. As it turned out, the cans had been sealed with lead solder. All of
the human remains were very high in lead content. They had, in fact, all died of lead
poisoning.
In the Twentieth Century, the use of lead in paint pigments was ended because of the
danger of lead poisoning, especially to children.
Bismuth [Bi]
CAS-ID: 7440-69-9
An: 83 N: 126
Am: 208.98038 (2) g/mol
Group No: 15
State: solid
Colour: lustrous reddish white Classification: Metallic
Density: 9.78g/cm3
Who: Known to the ancients. Bismuth was also known to the Incas and used (along with
the usual copper and tin) in a special bronze alloy for knives.
Name Origin
German: wissmuth (white mass).
"Bismuth" in different languages.
Sources
It can be found free in nature and in minerals like bismuthine (Bi2O3) and in bismuth
ochre (Bi2O3). Canada, Bolivia, Japan, Mexico and Peru are major producers.
World production is around 3000 tons annually.
Abundance
Seawater:
Atlantic deep: ppm
Uses
Main use is in pharmaceuticals, low melting point alloys, fuses, sprinklers, glass,
ceramics and as a catalyst in rubber production. Strong permanent magnets can be
made from the alloy "bismanol" (MnBi). In the early 1990s, research began to evaluate
bismuth as a nontoxic replacement for lead in various applications.
Bismuth is sometimes used in the production of shot and shotgun slugs. Its advantage
over lead in this respect is that it is non-toxic and therefore legal in the UK for the
shooting of wetland birds.
Bismuth has also been used in solders. The fact that bismuth and many of its alloys
expand slightly when they solidify make them ideal for this purpose.
History
Bismuth was confused in early times with tin and lead due to its resemblance to those
elements. Basilius Valentinus described some of its uses in 1450. Claude Francois
Geoffroy showed in 1753 that this metal is distinct from lead.
Bismuth was also known to the Incas and used (along with the usual copper and tin) in a
special bronze alloy for knives.
Notes
While bismuth was traditionally regarded as the element with the heaviest stable
isotope, it had long been thought to be unstable on theoretical grounds. Not until 2003
was this demonstrated when researchers at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in
Orsay, France, measured the alpha emission half-life of 209Bi to be 1.9 x 1019 years,
meaning that bismuth is very slightly radioactive, with a half-life over a billion times
longer than the current estimated age of the universe. Due to its extraordinarily long
half-life, for nearly all applications bismuth can be treated as if it is stable and non-
radioactive. However, the radioactivity is of academic interest because bismuth is one of
few elements whose radioactivity was suspected, and indeed theoretically predicted,
before being detected in the laboratory.
Elemental bismuth is one of very few substances of which the liquid phase is denser
than its solid phase (water being the best-known example). Because bismuth expands
on freezing, it was long an important component of low-melting typesetting alloys which
needed to expand to fill printing molds.
In the early 1990s, research began to evaluate bismuth as a nontoxic replacement for
lead in various applications.
Hazards
Among the heavy metals, bismuth is unusual in that its toxicity is much lower than that
of its neighbours in the periodic table such as lead, thallium and antimony.
Finely divided powder is highly flammable.
Polonium [Po]
CAS-ID: 7440-08-6
An: 84 N: 125
Am: [209] g/mol
Group No: 16
Colour: silvery Classification: Metallic
Density: (beta) 9.398g/cm3
Who: Pierre and Marie Curie
When: 1898
Where: France
Name Origin
From Poland, country of Pierre and Marie Curie.
"Polonium" in different languages.
Sources
Occurs in pitchblende from decay of radium. Annual world wide production is less than
100 grammes.
Abundance
Earth's Crust: ppm
Uses
Used for nuclear batteries, neutron source, antistatic agents, film cleaner.
History
Also called tentatively "Radium F", polonium was discovered by Marie Sklodowska-Curie
and her husband Pierre Curie in 1898 and was later named after Marie Curie's native
land of Poland (Latin: Polonia). Poland at the time was under Russian, Prussian, and
Austrian partition, and did not exist as an independent country. It was Curie's hope that
naming the element after her native land would publicize its lack of independence.
Polonium may be the first element named to highlight a political controversy. Poland
became an independent country again in 1918, following World War I.
This element was the first one discovered by the Curies while they were investigating
the cause of pitchblende radioactivity. The pitchblende, after removal of the radioactive
elements uranium and thorium, was more radioactive than both the uranium and
thorium put together. This spurred the Curies on to find additional radioactive elements.
The Curies first separated out polonium from the pitchblende, and then within a few
years, also isolated radium.
Notes
Polonium has more isotopes than any other element, all of which are radioactive.
Polonium dissolves readily in dilute acids, but is only slightly soluble in alkalis.
On the first of November 2007, Alexander Litvinenko, a former member of the Russian
FSB, suddenly fell ill, he died three weeks later. His poisoning has been attributed to
polonium-210 as significant amounts of the substance was found in his body. For more
information see here.
Hazards
Polonium is highly radioactive and extremely toxic. Even milligram or microgram

amounts, handling polonium-210 is very dangerous and requires special equipment used
with strict procedures. Direct damage occurs from energy absorption into tissues from
alpha particles. Weight for weight it is about 2.5 x 1011 times as toxic as hydrocyanic
acid (HCN). A milligram of polonium-210 emits as many alpha particles (helium nuclei)
as 5 grams of radium. Polonium has been found in tobacco as a contaminant and in
uranium ores.
Radon [Rn]
CAS-ID: 10043-92-2
An: 86 N: 136
Am: [222] g/mol
Group No: 18
State: gas
Melting Point: 202K (-71°C)
Density: 9.73g/l
Who: Fredrich Ernst Dorn
When: 1898
Where: Germany
Name Origin
From radium.
"Radon" in different languages.
Sources
Formed from the decay of radium in the earth's crust.
Abundance
Atmosphere: 1 x 10-15 ppm
Earth's Crust: ppm

Uses
Used to treat some forms of cancer, also used in earthquake prediction.
Although some physicians once believed that radon can be used therapeutically, there is
no evidence for this belief and radon is not currently in medical use, at least in the
developed world.
History
Radon (named after radium) was discovered in 1900 by Friedrich Ernst Dorn, who called
it radium emanation. In 1908 William Ramsay and Robert Whytlaw-Gray, who named it
niton (Latin nitens meaning "shining"; symbol Nt), isolated it, determined its density and
that it was the heaviest known gas. It has been called "radon" since 1923.
The first major studies of the health concern occurred in the context of uranium mining,
first in the Joachimsthal region of Bohemia and then in the American Southwest during
the early Cold War. Because radon is a daughter-product of uranium, uranium mines
have high concentrations of radon and its highly radioactive daughter products. Many
Native Americans, Mormons, and other miners in the Four Corners region would later
contract lung cancer and other pathologies as a result of high levels of exposure to
radon gas while mining uranium for the Atomic Energy Commission in the mid-1950s.
Safety standards instituted required expensive ventilation and as such were not widely
implemented or policed.
The danger of radon exposure in dwellings was discovered in 1984 with the case of
Stanley Watras, an employee at the Limerick nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
Watras set off the radiation alarms (see Geiger counter) on his way into work for two
weeks straight while authorities searched for the source of the contamination. They were
shocked to find that the source was astonishingly high levels of radon, around 100,000
Bq.m-3, in his house's basement and it was not related to the nuclear plant. The risks
associated with living in his house were estimated to be equivalent to smoking 135
packs of cigarettes every day. Following this event, which was highly publicized, national
radon safety standards were set and radon detection and ventilation became a standard
homeowner concern.
Notes
On average, there is one atom of radon in 1 x 1021 molecules of air. Radon can be found
in some spring waters and hot springs. The towns of Misasa, Japan, and Bad Kreuznach,
Germany boast radium-rich springs which emit radon.
Radon is the heaviest noble gas and one of the heaviest gases at room temperature.
Previously known as Emanation. Radon is a health threat in homes built on granite and
radon detectors should be used in the basement of homes. High radon levels can often
be mitigated by utilizing ventilation. At ordinary temperatures radon is a colourless gas.
When cooled below the freezing point, radon exhibits a brilliant phosphorescence which
becomes yellow as the temperature is lowered and orange-red at the temperature of
liquid air. The main hazard is from inhalation of the element and its decay products
which are collected on dust in the air. Radon is present in some spring waters.
Hazards
Radon is a radiological poison and a carcinogen. Some of the daughter products from
radioactive decay of radon (such as polonium) are also toxic. Since radon is a gas, its
decay products form a very fine dust that is both toxic and radioactive. This can
potentially stick in the lungs and do far more damage than the radon itself.
Radon is the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking, and
radon induced lung cancer is thought to be the 6th leading cause of cancer death overall
Xc ruewd.

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Hydrogen [H]

Am: 83.798 g/mol

Group Name: Noble Gases

Block: p-block Period: 4

Colour: Colourless Classification: Non-metallic

Boiling Point: 119.93K (-153.22°C)

Melting Point: 115.79K (-157.36°C)

Critical temperature: 209.4K (-63.7°C)

Availability: Krypton is present in the air at about 1 ppm.

Who: Sir William Ramsey, M.W. Travers

Where: Great Britain

Greek: kryptos (hidden).

"Krypton" in different languages.

It is one of the products of uranium fission.

Universe: 0.04 ppm (by weight)

Atmosphere: 1.14 ppm

Earth's Crust: 1 x 10-5 ppm

Seawater: 2.1 x 10-4 ppm

Used in fluorescent bulbs, flashbulbs, and as a wavelength standard.

Am: 85.4678 (3) g/mol

Group Name: Alkali metal

Block: s-block Period: 5

Colour: silvery white Classification: Metallic

Boiling Point: 961K (688°C)

Melting Point: 312.46K (39.31°C)

Critical temperature: 2093K (1820°C)

Latin: rubidus (red); the colour its salts impart to flames.

"Rubidium" in different languages.

Universe: 0.01 ppm (by weight)

Sun: 0.03 ppm (by weight)

Carbonaceous meteorite: 3.3 ppm

Earth's Crust: 60 ppm

Seawater: 0.12 ppm

4600 ppb by weight

340 ppb by atoms

Rubidium reacts violently with water and can cause fires.

Am: 87.62 g/mol

Group Name: Alkaline earth metal

Block: s-block Period: 5

State: solid at 298 K

Colour: silvery white Classification: Metallic

Boiling Point: 1655K (1382°C)

Melting Point: 1050K (777°C)

From Strontian a small Scottish town.

"Strontium" in different languages.

Universe: 0.04 ppm (by weight)

Sun: 0.05 ppm (by weight)

Earth's Crust: 360 ppm

Atlantic surface: 7.6 ppm

Atlantic deep: 7.7 ppm

Pacific surface: 7.6 ppm

Pacific deep: 7.7 ppm

4600 ppb by weight

330 ppb by atoms

Strontium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808.

Am: 88.90585 (2) g/mol

Group Name: Transition metals

State: solid at 298 K