Electron Shell Configuration: [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p3
Minimum oxidation number: -3
Maximum oxidation number: 5
Minimum common oxidation number: 0
Maximum common oxidation no: 3
Appearance & Characteristics
Structure:: rhombohedral
Color: white
Hardness: 2.5 mohs
Toxicity: ?
Characteristics: brittle
Uses: antacid, fusible alloy
Reactions
Reaction with air: mild, w/ht =>Bi2O3
Reaction with 6M HCl: none
Reaction with 15M HNO3: mild, =>Bi(NO3)3, NOx
Reaction with 6M NaOH: ?
Other Forms
Number of isotopes: 1
Oxide(s): Bi2O3
Hydride(s): BiH3
Chloride(s): BiCl3 BiCl4
Radius
Atomic Radius: 150 pm
Ionic radius (1- ion): pm
Ionic radius (1+ ion): pm
Ionic radius (2- ion): pm
Ionic radius (2+ ion): pm
Ionic radius (3+ ion): 117 pm
Conductivity
Thermal conductivity: 7.92 J/m-sec-deg
Electrical conductivity: 9.363 1/mohm-cm
Polarizability: 7.4 A^3
Abundance
Source: Pb smelting by-product
Relative abundance solar system: -0.842 log
Abundance earth's crust: -0.8 log
Estimated crustal abundance: 8.5×10-3 milligrams per kilogram
Estimated oceanic abundance: 2×10-5 milligrams per liter
History
(Ger. Weisse Masse, white mass; later Wisuth and Bisemutum) In early times bismuth was confused with tin and lead. Claude Geoffroy the Younger showed it to be distinct from lead in 1753.
Sources
The most important ores are bismuthinite or bismuth glance and bismite. Peru, Japan, Mexico, Bolivia, and Canada are major bismuth producers. Much of the bismuth produced in the U.S. is obtained as a by-product in refining lead, copper, tin, silver, and gold ores.
Properties
It is a white, crystalline, brittle metal with a pinkish tinge. It occurs in a native state. Bismuth is the most diamagnetic of all metals, and the thermal conductivity is lower than any metal, except mercury. It has a high electrical resistance, and has the highest Hall effect of any metal (i.e., greatest increase in electrical resistance when placed in a magnetic field).
Uses
"Bismanol" is a permanent magnet of high coercive force, made of MnBi, by the U.S. Naval Surface Weapons Center. Bismuth expands 3.32% on solidification. This property makes bismuth alloys particularly suited to the making of sharp castings of objects subject to damage by high temperatures. With other metals such as tin, cadmium, etc., bismuth forms low-melting alloys which are extensively used for safety devices in fire detection and extinguishing systems. Bismuth is used in producing malleable irons and is finding use as a catalyst for making acrylic fibers. When bismuth is heated in air it burns with a blue flame, forming yellow fumes of the oxide. The metal is also used as a thermocoupling material, and has found application as a carrier for 235U or 233U fuel in nuclear reactors. Its soluble salts are characterized by forming unsoluble basic salts on the addition of water, a property sometimes used in detection work. Bismuth oxychloride is used extensively in cosmetics. Bismuth subnitrate and subcarbonate are used in medicine.
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