Cadmium - ASCII Periodic Table of the Elements

ASCII PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS

  Cd

Relative atomic mass: 112.411 ± 0.008

English: Cadmium
French: Cadmium
Croatian: Kadmij
German: Kadmium
Italian: Cadmio
Spanish: Cadmio

Atomic number: 48
Group numbers: 12
Period: 5
Standard state (20 °C): solid

Discovery: 1817 Friedrich Strohmeyer (DE)

Cadmium was discovered by Friedrich Strohmeyer (DE) in 1817. The origin of the name comes from the Latin word 'cadmia' meaning 'calamine' (zinc carbonate, ZnCO3), or from the Greek word 'kadmeia' with the same meaning. It is a soft, malleable, blue-white metal that tarnishes in air, soluble in acids, insoluble in alkalis. Boiling cadmium gives off a weird, yellow-coloured vapour that is poisonous. Cadmium can cause a variety of health problems, including kidney failure and high blood pressure. Cadmium is obtained as a by product of zinc refining. The mayor use of cadmium is in electroplating of steel to protect it from corrosion. It is also used to make nickel-cadmium batteries. The ability of cadmium to adsorb neutrons has made it of great importance in the design of nuclear reactors. Its compounds are found in paint pigments and a wide variety of intense colours.

Electronic configuration: [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s²
Formal oxidation number: +2
Atomic radius: 148.9 pm

Electronegativities: 1.69
Thermal conductivity: 96.8 W/(m K)
Electrical resistivity (20 °C): 6.83 μΩcm

Melting point: 312.07 °C
Boiling point: 767 °C

Heat of fusion: 6.11 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization: 100 kJ/mol
Heat of atomization: 112.05 kJ/mol