8 References

9 Further reading

10 External links

Characteristics

[edit]Physical properties

Beryllium has exceptional flexural rigidity (Young's modulus 287 GPa) and a reasonably high melting point.

The modulus of elasticity of beryllium is approximately 50% greater than that of steel.

The combination of this modulus and a relatively low density results in an unusually fast sound conduction speed in beryllium – about 12.9 km/s at ambient conditions.

Other significant properties are high specific heat (1925 J·kg−1·K−1) and thermal conductivity (216 W·m−1·K−1), which make beryllium the metal with the best heat dissipation characteristics per unit weight.

In combination with the relatively low coefficient of linear thermal expansion (11.4×10−6 K−1), these characteristics result in a unique stability under conditions of thermal loading.[3]

[edit]Nuclear properties

Beryllium has a large scattering cross section for high-energy neutrons, thus effectively slowing the neutrons to the thermal energy range where the cross section is low (about 0.008 barn).

The predominant beryllium isotope 9Be also undergoes a (n,2n) neutron reaction to 8Be, that is, beryllium is a neutron multiplier, releasing more neutrons than it absorbs.

This nuclear reaction is:

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