Page 48 - The Periodic Table Book
P. 48

38
             Sr     Strontium


                                                                                                   Discovery: 1790
                                                                                   38    38    50  State: Solid
       Alkaline Earth Metals  Strontianite  Soft, brittle   turns yellow in air.                light during the day,
             Forms
                                                                                                    Some paints
                                                 This grey metal
                                                                                                    containing
                                                                                                 strontium absorb


                                                                                                    glowing
                                         crystals
                                                                                                    at night.

                                                   Crystals of pure strontium  refined in a laboratory














                                     Celestine




























                                          This mineral
                                          is found in some
                                          microorganisms.





           Strontium was discovered in 1791 in a               was called strontianite, and it is the main ore
           mineral found near the Scottish village             of strontium. Pure strontium was first extracted
           of Strontian. The mineral burned with a             by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, who
           bright crimson flame, and Scottish chemist          conducted an experiment using electricity to
           Thomas Charles Hope studied it and found            obtain the element from the mineral. Strontium
    46     that it contained a new element. This mineral       was once used in television screens, but today





   046-047_Strontium.indd   46                                                                                  02/12/16   10:05 pm
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