bismuth
Sign in to saveBismuth is a chemical element; it has symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs naturally, and its sulfide and oxide forms are important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery-white color when freshly produced. Surface oxidation generally gives samples of the metal a somewhat rosy cast. Further oxidation under heat can give bismuth a vividly iridescent appearance due to thin-film
AI overview
Bismuth is a naturally occurring metal element (Bi) that belongs to the same chemical family as arsenic and antimony, and it's typically extracted from its mineral ores for commercial use. It's a brittle, silvery-white metal that develops a distinctive rosy or iridescent appearance as it oxidizes, and it's notably less dense than lead.
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Article
25 sectionsContents
- History and etymology
- Characteristics
- Physical characteristics
- Chemical characteristics
- Isotopes
- Chemical compounds
- Occurrence and production
- Production
- Price
- Recycling
- Applications
- Medicines
- Cosmetics and pigments
- Electronics
- Transistors
- Metal and alloys
- Lead replacement
- Other metal uses and specialty alloys
- Other uses as compounds
- Toxicology and ecotoxicology
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Cited sources
- External links
Bismuth is a chemical element; it has symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs naturally, and its sulfide and oxide forms are important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery-white color when freshly produced. Surface oxidation generally gives samples of the metal a somewhat rosy cast. Further oxidation under heat can give bismuth a vividly iridescent appearance due to thin-film interference. Bismuth is both the most diamagnetic element and one of the least thermally conductive metals known.
Bismuth was formerly understood to be the element with the highest atomic mass whose nuclei do not spontaneously decay, but in 2003, it was found to be very slightly radioactive. The metal's only primordial isotope, bismuth-209, undergoes alpha decay with a half-life roughly a billion times longer than the estimated age of the universe.