Beryllium was once known as glucinum, which means sweet, since beryllium and many of its compounds have a sugary taste. Unfortunately for the chemists that discovered this particular property, beryllium and many of its compounds are poisonous and should never be tasted or ingested.

Estimated Crustal Abundance: 2.8 milligrams per kilogram

Estimated Oceanic Abundance: 5.6×10-6 milligrams per liter

Number of Stable Isotopes: 1 (View all isotope data)

Ionization Energy: 9.323 eV

Oxidation State: 2

Beryllium is an excellent additive in bearing materials to promote lubricity and long life.

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(Gr. beryllos: beryl; also called Glucinium or Glucinum, Gr. glykys: sweet) Discovered in the oxide form by Vauquelin in both beryl and emeralds in 1798. The metal was isolated in 1828 by Wohler and by Bussy independently by the action of potassium on beryllium chloride.

Sources

Properties

The metal, steel gray in color, has many desirable properties. As one of the lightest of all metals, it has one of the highest melting points of the light metals. Its modulus of elasticity is about one third greater than that of steel. It resists attack by concentrated nitric acid, has excellent thermal conductivity, and is nonmagnetic. It has a high permeability to X-rays and when bombarded by alpha particles, as from radium or polonium, neutrons are produced in the amount of about 30 neutrons/million alpha particles.

(Gr. beryllos: beryl; also called Glucinium or Glucinum, Gr. glykys: sweet) Discovered in the oxide form by Vauquelin in both beryl and emeralds in 1798. The metal was isolated in 1828 by Wohler and by Bussy independently by the action of potassium on beryllium chloride.

At ordinary temperatures, beryllium resists oxidation in air, although its ability to scratch glass is probably due to the formation of a thin layer of the oxide.

Uses