Avery King
History:
The element of cadmium was officially discovered in 1817 by a man named, Fredrich Stromeyer. He first found the element in zinc oxide in Germany. Zinc Oxide was being used at the time to treat skin conditions and still is used for that purpose today. This is when he found that his local pharmacy was selling zinc carbonate to treat peoples skin cancer. Fredrich found that when he heated the zinc oxide it turned to a yellow color. “Normally this color would suggest iron or lead contamination, but Stromeyer could not find any trace of these elements. -Dr. Doug Stewart.” He did further studies on this and tried to find why the color was yellow. He realized there was another compound in the metal; cadmium is the name he gave it. He named the new metal cadmium because the latin word “cadmia” means calamine and calamine is another name for “zinc ore”.
Uses of Cadmium:One of cadmium’s most common use is in nickel-cadmium batteries. Cadmium can be used well in the nickel-cadmium battery for the fact that it prevents corrosion. Cadmium is also used to form “solder” which is a metal used to join pipes and electrical components because the compound has a low melting point. It is also used in bearings of vehicles to hold them together. Cadmium has been found in fertilizers and has become unpopular by the general public as a component of fertilization because it is poisonous to animals. Compounds containing cadmium are found in both old black and white television tubes, and in newer 2color television picture tubes. Cadmium sulfide is used as a yellow pigment, and cadmium selenide is used as a red pigment in modern day picture tubes. Cadmium along with the element tellurium can be compounded into CdTe and used in solar cell production.
Reactivity:Cadmium reacts differently depending on what substance it is bonding with. For instances, when it bonds with air it turns to the name cadmium(II) oxide and the metal burns into small air or gas particles. The color of cadmium in air changes and depends on the way it is created. Cadmium does not react at all with some substances such as water. When places with acids cadmium usually just dissolves into them. And lastly, cadmiums reaction to bases. It doesn’t dissolve into some of them because they are water based and cadmium doesn’t react to water.
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Interesting Facts:- Cadmium is close in relation to the element zinc but it’s not quite as reactive as zinc.
- The element of cadmium is not used too frequently because of the fact that it is poisonous. - Cadmium is rarely found in large amounts and the only mineral that you can find cadmium in large amounts in is greenockite. - The metal cadmium is very soft, and can be cut with a butter knife. - In a large chunk cadmium is not flammable however when it is in small bits or power it is flammable. - In bulk, cadmium is non-flammable, but will burn and release poisonous fumes when in a powdered form. Abundance:Cadmium comes from the earth’s crust and ranks in the low 25 percent of elements in abundance. It is often found when zinc is refined so it is a by-product of zinc rather than it’s own element. Cadmium is able to be found in zinc because they cool and gain heat at different rates. When zinc starts to cool and become a solid, cadmium is still a liquid making cadmium visible.
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Picture Examples:
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Sources:
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