{"id":17,"date":"2020-04-08T14:55:39","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T14:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechemicalelements.com\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2023-08-16T11:26:30","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T11:26:30","slug":"beryllium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechemicalelements.com\/beryllium\/","title":{"rendered":"Beryllium (Be)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4 in the periodic table of elements<\/a>. It occurs in a quantity from 2 to 6 parts per million (ppm) in the Earth’s crust, i.e. 2.8 milligrams per kilogram of the elemental form of beryllium. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lightest member of the alkaline earth metals<\/a> family of periodic table elements is a toxic divalent element that can be found in minerals as a part of compounds with other chemical elements.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chemical and Physical Properties of Beryllium<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Property<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Symbol<\/td>Be<\/td><\/tr>
Name<\/td>Beryllium<\/td><\/tr>
Atomic number<\/td>4<\/td><\/tr>
Atomic weight (mass)<\/td>9.01218 g.mol-1<\/td><\/tr>
Group<\/td>2<\/td><\/tr>
Color<\/td>Steel-gray with whitish strikes<\/td><\/tr>
Physical state<\/td>A solid, strong, lightweight metal; brittle at room temperature<\/td><\/tr>
Half-life<\/td>Stable<\/td><\/tr>
Electronegativity<\/td>1.57<\/td><\/tr>
Density<\/td>1.85 g\/cm3<\/td><\/tr>
Melting point<\/td>1287 \u00b0C<\/td><\/tr>
Boiling point<\/td>2970 \u00b0C<\/td><\/tr>
Van der Waals radius<\/td>153 pm<\/td><\/tr>
Ionic radius<\/td>0.45 (+2) \u00c5<\/td><\/tr>
Isotopes<\/td>12 (1 naturally occurring isotope – 9Be)<\/td><\/tr>
Electronic shell<\/td>1s2 2s2 or [ He ] 2s2<\/td><\/tr>
The energy of the first ionization<\/td>899.2 kJ.mol-1<\/td><\/tr>
The energy of the second ionization<\/td>1757 kJ.mol-1<\/td><\/tr>
Standard potential<\/td>– 1.70 V<\/td><\/tr>
Discovery date<\/td>In 1798 by Abb\u00e9 Ren\u00e9-Just Hauy<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beryllium has 4 protons in its nucleus, low density, and an atomic mass of 9.01218 g.mol -1. These properties make beryllium susceptible to ionizing radiation and partially transparent to x-rays. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beryllium is a light, non-magnetic metal with high flexural rigidity, strong optical and nuclear properties, high heat capacity, and thermal stability over a wide temperature range. The hardness of beryllium metal measures 80-100 by Rockwell. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chemical substance reaches its boiling point at 2970 \u00b0C, while the melting point is achieved at 1287 \u00b0C. Beryllium also has a great thermal conductivity (220 W\u00b7m\u22121\u00b7K\u22121). With a +2 oxidation state, beryllium forms oxides at extremely high temperatures and is insoluble in nitric acid.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Was Beryllium Discovered?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since ancient times, beryllium silicates, beryl and emerald, were known to the old civilizations that have exploited them in the form of beryl and emerald crystals. The legends say that emperor Nero used a large emerald crystal in order to see better. This means that the optical properties and clearness of beryllium and its compounds were discovered way before the first glasses were made. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1798, the French chemist Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin, (May 16, 1763 – November 14, 1829) is the first scientist who discovered beryllium in a beryl ore as well as its green form, the precious emerald. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since it shares many chemical and physical properties with aluminum (Al)<\/a>, it was more difficult for the chemists to distinguish beryllium as a separate chemical element from the compounds. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The German chemist Friedrich W\u00f6hler (31 July 1800 – 23 September 1882) and his French colleague, Antoine Bussy, are the first scientists who in two independent experiments managed to isolate pure beryllium from beryllium chloride (BeCl2) in 1828.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beryllium’s Role in the Discovery of the Neutron<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Beryllium plays an important role in the advancement of atomic theory. Namely, in 1935, the English physicist Sir James Chadwick (October 20, 1891 – July 24, 1974) won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the neutron. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By following the experiments of Walther Bothe and Herbert Becker who bombarded beryllium molecules with alpha-particles and observed high-energy gamma rays as a result, Sir Chadwick tried to prove his doubt in that result, and he was right. The unfamiliar radiation emitted from beryllium bombarded by alpha rays in a vacuum chamber led him to the historical discovery of neutrons.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Did Beryllium Get Its Name?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Due to the sweetness of the beryllium salts, this chemical element used to be labeled as <\/span>glucinum<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>glucinium<\/span><\/i>, a term derived from the Greek word \u2018<\/span>glykys\u2019<\/span><\/i> denoting \u2018sweet\u2019. This name was kept until 1949, when IUPAC chose the present name beryllium, given after the Greek term for the mineral beryl – \u2018<\/span>beryllos<\/span><\/i>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where Can You Find Beryllium?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beryllium comprises 0.1 parts per billion of the Sun. It\u2019s a chemical substance that is rarely found in nature since it mainly occurs as a result of a nuclear reaction, i.e. a fragmentation of large atomic nuclei by interaction with cosmic rays. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, beryllium can be obtained from beryllium aluminium<\/a> cyclosilicate, also labeled as beryl (Be<\/span>3<\/span>Al<\/span>2<\/span>Si<\/span>6<\/span>O<\/span>18<\/span>), as well as from bertrandite ore (4BeO\u00b72SiO<\/span>2<\/span>\u00b7H<\/span>2<\/span>O). The electrolysis of molten BeCl<\/span>2<\/span> and NaCl also produces pure beryllium. The reaction between beryllium fluoride and magnesium also yields the most of the beryllium quantities used for commercial purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of different beryllium minerals found in nature:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n