Friday, January 18, 2008

Element of the Week - Bismuth





Bismuth

Atomic Weight 208.98038
Density 9.78 g/cc
Melting Point 271.3°C
Boiling Point 1564.°C

known for;
  • has the interesting physical property of being less dense as a solid than it is as a liquid
  • naturally forms beautiful crystals
  • poorly conducts electricity and heat
  • used in producing malleable irons
  • bismuth is non-toxic
  • as a catalyst for making acrylic fibers
  • the metal is used as a thermocouple material (has highest negativity known)
  • carrier for uranium fuel in nuclear reactors
  • fire detection, extinguishing systems
  • cosmetics
  • medicine

Sources
  1. http://www.webelements.com/webelements/scholar/elements/bismuth/uses.html
  2. http://periodictable.com/
  3. http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photobis.html

2 comments:

Blogzilla said...

That is beautiful! Thanks!
Lise

leslieroeth said...

That is really beautiful. Thanks for showing the picture. I had a cool picture of my element too, but I couldn't figure out how to post it. Your vast knowledge of blogging amazes me.