ATOMIC NUMBER
4

ATOMIC MASS
9.012182

FAMILY
Group 2 (IIA)
Alkaline earth metal

PRONUNCIATION
buh-RIL-Lee-um

Discovery and naming

A common compound of beryllium, beryl, was known in ancient Egypt, but nothing was known about the chemical composition of this mineral until the end of the eighteenth century.

In 1797, French mineralogist René-Just Haüy (1743-1822) completed studies on beryl and emerald.

Emerald is a naturally occurring green gemstone. Haüy was convinced that these two minerals were nearly identical.

He asked a friend, Vauquelin, to determine the chemical composition of the two minerals.

When Vauquelin performed his chemical analysis, he found a new material that had been overlooked because it is so much like aluminum. His data proved that the material was not aluminum. He suggested calling the new element glucinium. Scientists referred to the element by two different names, beryllium and glucinium, for 160 years. The name beryllium comes from the mineral, beryl, in which it was first discovered.

Beryllium never occurs as a free element, only as a compound. The most common ore of beryllium is beryl. Beryl has the chemical formula Be 3 (Al 2 (SiO 3 )) 6 .

The original name of beryllium—glucinium—meant "sweet tasting," since the element and some of its compounds have a sweet taste.

The major beryl producer in the world is the United States. The only mine currently producing beryl is in Delta, Utah. Beryl is also converted to beryllium and its compounds in plants in Delta; Elmore, Ohio; and near Reading, Pennsylvania. Beryl is also obtained from mines in China, Russia, and Brazil.

Beryllium is relatively common in the Earth's crust. Its abundance is estimated at 2 to 10 parts per million.