What is Bismuth?
Bismuth is bismuth I am used to tell the people ! Okay that may be little bit to easy. Bismuth is a metall and an element belonging into the fifth main group of the periodic system of chemical elements, where you will find nitrogen, phosphor, arsenic, antimony and bismuth. Bismuth is a rare and strange metall. In the frequency (or better rarity) charts of elements in the earths crust it ranks number 69 of the 75 listed. Only 0.008 ppm (gramms per metric ton) of the earths crust consist of bismuth which is less then for platinum which ranks number 68 with 0.01 ppm. Gold is rank number 71 with 0.004 ppm. This means there is only twice as much bismuth available as gold. However that are statistics (and as you know Winston Churchill said never trust a statistic unless you forged it yourself). Fortunately due to its geochemical properties bismuth concentrates in different types of metall deposits, like the Bi-U-Co-Ag formation but you also will find it together with lead and zinc or copper.
Bismuth is a metallic chemical element which is classified among the group of elements colloquially known as “poor elements” in the periodic table. This element has a number of uses, making it common in industrial applications. Many consumers own products which contain bismuth, although they may not necessarily interact with the element directly. The bulk of the world’s bismuth comes from South America, and it is also extracted as a byproduct from the smelting of some metals. In addition to occurring in various minerals, bismuth also can be found in pure form in nature. When it is pure, bismuth is white with a reddish tinge, and sometimes almost pink. It has a crystalline chemical structure which makes it extremely brittle, and it is rather unique among the elements for having a liquid state which is more dense than its solid state; water shares this interesting property. On the periodic table of elements, bismuth is identified as Bi, and the element has an atomic number of 83. The nam
White crystalline metal with a pink tinge, belongs to group 15. Most diamagnetic of all metals and has the lowest thermal conductivity of all the elements except mercury. Lead-free bismuth compounds are used in cosmetics and medical procedures. Burns in the air and produces a blue flame. In 1753, C.G. Junine first demonstrated that it was different from lead.
