Home > Barium
1 Notable characteristics
Barium is a metallic element that is chemically similar to calcium, yet is soft and in its pure form is silvery white resembling lead. This metal oxidizes very easily and when exposed to air and is highly reactive with water or alcohol. Barium is decomposed by water or alcohol. Some of the compounds of this element are remarkable for their high specific gravity, as is its sulfate: barite Ba(SO4) also called heavy spar.
2 Applications
Barium is primarily used in sparkplugs, vacuum tubes, fireworks, and in fluorescent lamps.
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3 History
Barium ( Greek "barys" meaning "heavy") was first identified in 1774 by Carl 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, which soon was modified to "barium" to describe the metal.
4 Occurrence
Because barium quickly becomes oxidized in air, it is difficult to obtain this metal in its pure form. It is primarily found in and extracted from the mineral barite which is crystalized barium sulfate. Barium is commercially produced through the electrolysis of molten barium chloride (BaCl2)
Isolation (* follow):
- ( cathode) Ba2+* + 2 e- → Ba ( anode) Cl-* → ˝Cl2 ( g) + e-
5 Compounds
The most important compounds are barium peroxide , chloride, sulfate, carbonate, nitrate, and chlorate .
When burned, barium salts glows green.
