Chemicals
TopGeneral Information
Bismuth is one of the elements from the table of elements. Bismuth has a rare type of crystals: hoppered crystals. They are even rarer in nature. When the crystalization proces is conducted with great care, the most wonderfull crystals can be made.
The colour of the crystals is caused by a thin layer of bismuth oxide, that is formed when bismuth comes in contact with oxygen at the right temperature. The colour can be any colour from the rainbow, but in general some colours are more abundant than others. There are crystals that are mostly composed of blue and purple, or blauw and green with some yellow.
The purity of the bismuth also determines the colour and shape of the crystals. The purity that normally is used for laboratory grown crystals is 99.95% or higher.[1]
Bismuth can form many compounds and alloys. Its used in alloys to make a material with a very low melting point.
TopChemical & Physical Information
| Trivial name | Bismuth |
| Chemical name | Bismuth |
| Other names | Wismut(h) (DE), Bismut (NL,BE), Bismuto (SP,PU) |
| Type of chemical | Element |
| Symbol | Bi |
| Element number | 83 |
| Element category | Poor metals |
| Group, period, block | 15, 6, p |
| CAS number | 7440-69-9 |
| Density 1 | 9.78 kg·m-3 25 °C |
| Density 2 | 10.05 kg·m-3 272 °C |
| Atomic mass | 208.98040 g·mol-1 |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p3 |
| Electrons per shell | 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 5 |
| Oxidation states | +3, +5 |
| Melting point | 271.5 °C |
| Boiling point | 1564 °C |
| Soluble | No |
| Crystal system | Trigonal |
| Appearance | Needles, powder or pieces |
| Colour | Silver |
| Safety summary | Safe |
| Safety data | MSDS |
| Storage | Dry |
| Extra | Colour formed by layer of bismuth oxide and it's diamagnetic. |
For more information, also look at the bismuth crystals and the bismuth minerals.
TopPhotos
(3 cm)
(3 cm)
(3 cm)
Sources
[1] Wikipedia
[2] Specimen from my personal collection, photo taken by me.
