Beryllium

Beryllium

Symbol	Be
Atomic Number	4
Atomic Mass	9.01218 g.mol-1
Discovered by	Nicholas Louis Vauquelin

What is Beryllium?

• Beryllium is an element with an atomic number of 4 in the periodic table.
• It is a bivalent and highly toxic element.
• The element has one of the highest melting points among the light metals.
• Beryllium exists in 30 different minerals, among which bertrandite, beryl, chrysoberyl, and phenacite are the most important.

Chemical Data of Beryllium

Group	2	Melting point	1287°C, 2349°F, 1560 K
Period	2	Boiling point	2468°C, 4474°F, 2741 K
Block	s	Density (g cm−3)	1.85
Atomic number	4	Relative atomic mass	9.012
State at 20°C	Solid	Key isotopes	9Be
Electron configuration	[He] 2s2	CAS number	7440-41-7
ChemSpider ID	4573986	ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database

Properties of Beryllium

• It is non-magnetic, holds excellent thermal conductivity and resists attack by concentrated nitric acid.
• Beryllium resists oxidation when exposed to air at standard temperature and pressure.
• It is found in 30 different minerals of which bertrandite, phenakite, and Beryl are the most important.
• Beryllium content in the ground can pass into the plants grown on it when it is in a soluble form.

Points of Distinction between Beryllium and other alkaline earth metals

1. Beryllium is very hard while the other members of the family are comparatively soft.
2. Beryllium reacts with oxygen only at very high temperature while the rest of the members combine upon heating.
3. Beryllium oxide (BeO) is of amphoteric nature.
4. Compounds of beryllium are mostly covalent because of high positive charge density on Be²⁺ ion and polarising power.
5. Except for beryllium the alkaline earth metals react with hydrogen  upon heating to form metal hydrides 
6. Beryllium does not liberate hydrogen from dilute acid readily while other alkaline earth metals evolved hydrogen. 
7. Beryllium does not react with water under any conditions while other alkaline earth metals do react upon heating.

Uses of Beryllium

• Beryllium is used as an alloying agent.
• It possesses high strength, non-magnetic properties, better resistance, and dimensionally stable over a significant range of temperature.
• Beryllium fused with copper forms alloys which are used in defence and aerospace industries is a typical application of Beryllium.

Certain Facts About Beryllium

• Aquamarine and emerald are the most precious forms of beryl. Beryl is the mineral form of beryllium aluminium cyclosilicate.
• X-ray detection diagnostic uses of Beryllium as it could pass through latter.