Barium

=__Barium__= __Applications:__ Barium is often used in barium-nickel alloys for spark-plug electrodes an in vacuum tubes as drying and oxygen-removing agent. It is also used in fluorescent lamps: impure barium sulfide phosphoresces after exposure to the light. Barium compounds are used by the oil and gas industries to make drilling mud. Drilling mud simplifies drilling through rocks by lubricating the drill. Barium compounds are also used to make paint, bricks, tiles, glass, and rubber. Barium nitrate and chlorate give fireworks a green color.

Read more: [|http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/ba.htm#ixzz1uRkuEVYX]

Basic Facts
Chemical symbol: Ba Atomic #: 56 Group: 2
 * Atomic Weight:** 137.327
 * Melting Point:** 1000 K (727°C or 1341°F)
 * Boiling Point:** 2170 K (1897°C or 3447°F)
 * Density:** 3.62 grams per cubic centimeter
 * Phase at Room Temperature:** Solid
 * Element Classification:** Metal
 * Period Number:** 6
 * Group Name:** Metallic - Alkaline Earth Metal


 * Number of Energy Levels:**6
 * First Energy Level:**2
 * Second Energy Level:**8
 * Third Energy Level:**18
 * Fourth Energy Level:**18
 * Fifth Energy Level:**8
 * Sixth Energy Level:**2

__Where It is found:__ Barium as a silver/white metal that can be found naturally in the environment. It is found combined with other chemicals like sulfur, carbon and oxygen. It is very light and has half the density of Iron. Barium also oxidizes in the air to form hydroxide. It reacts with almost all non - metals and is often found in poisoning compounds.

Isotopes

 * ** Isotope ** || ** Half Life ** ||
 * Ba-130 || Stable ||
 * Ba-131 || 11.7 days ||
 * Ba-132 || Stable ||
 * Ba-133 || 10.5 years ||
 * Ba-133m || 1.6 days ||
 * Ba-134 || Stable ||
 * Ba-135 || Stable ||
 * Ba-135m || 1.2 days ||
 * Ba-136 || Stable ||
 * Ba-137 || Stable ||
 * Ba-137m || 2.6 minutes ||
 * Ba-138 || Stable ||
 * Ba-139 || 1.4 hours ||
 * Ba-140 || 12.8 days ||
 * Ba-141 || 18.3 minutes ||
 * Ba-142 || 10.7 minutes ||

Facts
Can be used in rat poison as well as green colors. Barium is never found in its pure form because of the reactivity with air. It has been used in vacuum tubes. First discovered in Italy in a pebble form. With nickel, Barium is used in __automobile__ ignitions. Barium has few industrial applications, but the metal has been historically used to scavenge air in vacuum tubes. Barium compounds impart a green color to flames and because of its properties when being heated up, it has been used in fireworks. Barium Sulfate is used for its density, insolubility, and X-ray opacity.
 * Date of Discovery:** 1808
 * Discoverer:** Sir Humphrey Davy
 * Name Origin:** From the Greek word //barys// (heavy)
 * Uses:** Medical __applications__, among others
 * Obtained From:** barytine, whiterite

physical properties
Barium is a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal, which quickly oxidizes in the air. It crystallizes in body centered cubic lattices. It burns with a green or light green flame when heated up, which results in emission at 524.2 and 513.7 nm. It is a simple compound and its noted for its relatively high specific gravity. This is a high density is true of the most common barium-bearing mineral, Barite.

The small amounts of Barium found in food and water generally will not harm you, but it can. People that work in the Barium industry definitely have the biggest health risk, but the consumption of it through food and water can be fatal. Water soluble barium has been known to cause difficulty breathing all the way to paralysis, kidney and heart damage or even death.
 * __Health Effects of Barium__:**

> Barium is totally indigestible to humans. > Small amounts of barium compounds are used in paints and glasses. > Soluble barium compounds are extremely poisonous. Simple compounds of this heavy element are notable for their high specific gravity >
 * Uses for Barium**
 * the sulphate, as permanent white or blanc fixe, is used in paint, in X-ray diagnostic __work__ (BaSO 4 )
 * glassmaking
 * barite is extensively used as a weighting agent in oil well drilling fluids, and in making rubber
 * the carbonate is a rat poison
 * the nitrate and chlorate give green colors (CARE!) in pyrotechnics
 * sulphide is a white pigment
 * making rubber
 * rat poison
 * Barium is an alkaline earth metal and reactive element.

= = = Insights into the formation of barium and Tc-poor S stars from an extended sample of orbital elements = [|A. Jorissen] (1), [|S. Van Eck] (1), [|M. Mayor] (2), [|S. Udry] (2) ((1) Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, (2) Observatoire de Geneve, Switzerland) (Submitted on 28 Jan 1998) > The set of orbital elements available for chemically-peculiar red giant (PRG) stars has been considerably enlarged thanks to a decade-long CORAVEL radial-velocity monitoring of about 70 barium stars and 50 S stars. This __paper__ presents a detailed analysis of the complete set of orbital parameters available for PRG stars; the individual data are given in three companion papers. The main results are as follows: (i) The similarity between the orbital parameters of Tc-poor S stars and barium stars confirms that Tc-poor S stars are the cooler analogs of barium stars; (ii) The eccentricity -- period diagram of PRG stars clearly bears the signature of dissipative processes associated with mass transfer; (iii) The mass function distribution is compatible with the unseen companion being a white dwarf (WD); (iv) Assuming that the WD companion has a mass in the range 0.60+-0.04 Msun, the masses of mild and strong barium stars amount to 1.9+-0.2 and 1.5+-0.2 Msun, respectively; (v) Mild barium stars are not restricted to long-period systems; the difference between mild and strong barium stars is mainly one of galactic population rather than of orbital separation, in agreement with their respective kinematical properties; (vi) Binarity is probably not a sufficient condition to produce a PRG star, and a metallicity lower than solar seems to be required as well.