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Cadmium: Why There Are 118 Different Elements In The World

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Nickolas Fiallos Period: 3 November 11, 2016 Chemistry Honors Cadmium Report In the world there are 118 different elements. Each of these elements have a specific job that they accomplish for us and the Earth. Some of these elements are used more than others. There are even a few that do not occur naturally on Earth, which means they are created in labs or in other controlled areas. Many are even harmful to us which can cause many illnesses if not treated with care. Although some may be harmful or some may be man-made they serve a purpose in order to keep our world going. My element is Cadmium whose chemical symbol is Cd. Its atomic number is 48. The average atomic mass for cadmium is 112.411 atomic mass units. It contains 48 protons and electrons, as well as 64 neutrons. Cadmium has nine stable isotopes. The nine …show more content…

It was discovered by a man known as Friedrich Stromeyer from Göttingen University. He discovered it while trying to solve the problem which was brought up when apothecaries of Hanover, Germany, made zinc oxide. The zinc oxide was discolored instead of being pure white. Stromeyer traced the discoloration to a component which was not known to the world. He produced a blue-grey metal which he called Cadmium after the mineral. Cadmium comes from the latin word cadmia, meaning calamine. Calamine is zinc oxide which Cadmium originated from. Cadmium has very little uses. One of them is to electroplate steel and protect it from corrosion. According to one of the articles i used say that Cadmium absorbs neutrons and so is used in rods in nuclear reactors to control atomic fission. Although Cadmium had many great uses it was Cadmium is a poison and is known to cause health issues, which led to limiting usage of Cadmium. It has even been known to contaminate food sources, which happened in Japan after mining zinc, it leaked into the rice fields. Other than this major risk it has no major importance on living

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