Cadmium Facts
Cadmium Facts
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| Interesting Cadmium Facts: |
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| In 1817, Friedrich Stromeyer discovered cadmium after isolating it from zinc carbonate. |
| He found that an impurity in the zinc carbonate changed color when heated, which ZnCO3 does not do. |
| Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann, also of Germany, discovered cadmium the same year and while studying the same impurity in zinc carbonate. |
| Before krypton, the International Conference on Weights and Measures once calibrated a one meter length based on the spectral line of cadmium. |
| The Earth's crust contains about 0.1 parts per million of cadmium. |
| There are no substantial deposits of cadmium ores. |
| Cadmium is typically produced as a derivative of the processes involved in mining ores of zinc, lead, or copper. |
| Since cadmium is most often found as an impurity in zinc that Stromeyer and Hermann studied, the main source of cadmium is the refining of zinc. |
| A typical one ton sample of zinc led to the production of only 6.5 pounds of cadmium. |
| There are eight isotopes of cadmium, two of which are radioactive. |
| Three other isotopes are believed to decay, but that has not been confirmed in a lab. |
| Cadmium is often used as a protective coating on metals because it is naturally resistant to corrosion. |
| Cadmium electroplating is especially common for aircraft. |
| Cadmium plays a key role in rechargeable batteries, specifically nickel-cadmium batteries. |
| It also plays an important role in nuclear energy, as it serves as both a barrier and as an alloy for pressurized water reactors. |
| In bulk, cadmium is non-flammable, but will burn and release poisonous fumes when in a powdered form. |
| While cadmium's environmental effects are still being studied, the European Union banned cadmium in electronics nearly ten years ago. |
| It has no known part in higher organisms, but some ocean diatoms can rely on cadmium when zinc levels are too low. |
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