All About Tellurium

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All About Tellurium

• By C.M.

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The Basics About Tellurium

• Name Tellurium
• Atomic Number 52
• Density at 293K 6.24 g/cm3
• Atomic Volume 20.5 cm3/mol
• Atomic Weight 127.60

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More Basics About Tellurium

• Symbol Te
• Group Number 16
• Crystal Structure Hexagonal Discovered
  In 1783
• Classification Metalloid
• Color Silvery-white

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States of Tellurium

• Melting Points Listed Below
• 499.5oC, 722.65oK, 841.1oF
• Boiling Points Listed Below
• 989.8oC, 1262.95oK,
• 1813.64oF
• of Neutrons 76
• of Protons/Electrons 52

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Appearance and Characteristics

• Structure Parallel Chains
• Hardness 2.3 mohs
• Color Silvery-white
• Fracture uneven
• Streak White
• Crystal System Trigonal 3 2
• Transparency Crystals are semi-clear
• Associated Minerals include antimony, gold,
  calaverite, and sylvanite

Tellurium
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Tellurium was discovered by Franz Joseph
Muller von Reichenstein in1782.
Reichenstein was a Romanian mining official.
He had a great interest in chemistry and
extracted a new metal from an ore of gold. This
was known as aurum album, which he believed was
antimony. He later realized that the metal he
had produced wasnt antimony at all...
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Tellurium

• Usually mixed with copper,

Tin, gold, and silver.

• Is also used to color glass and ceramics.

• Added to copper and stainless steel to make them
  easier to machine and mill.

• Is also added to lead to increase its strength
• and resistance to sulfuric acid (H2SO4).

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More About Tellurium

• Tellurium is a rare element.
• Is in the same chemical family as

Oxygen, sulfur, selenium, and polonium.

• The price for Tellurium in 2000 was 14 dollars
  per pound.

• Number of Isotopes 8
• Used as a semiconductor,
• and another form of steel

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Telluriums Electron Configuration is Kr
5s24d105p4
People usually locate Tellurium accidentally
when mining for gold.
The United States, Canada, Peru, and Japan are
the largest Free World producers of Tellurium.
30 isotopes total of Tellurium are known, with
atomic masses ranging from 108 to 137. Natural
Tellurium consists of 8 isotopes.
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Handling Tellurium
Tellurium and its compounds are probably toxic
and should be handled with care. In fact,
workmen exposed to as little as 0.01 mg/m3 of
air, or less, develop tellurium breath, which
has a garlic-like odor.
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Tellurium is a metalloid. The other metalloids
are Boron, Silicon, Germanium, Arsenic,
Antimony, and Polonium.

• These elements can carry an electrical charge
  under special conditions.
• Makes these elements useful in
• computers and calculators.

• Telluriums Origin
• came from the Greek
• word Tellus, (Earth)

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What Other Types of Tellurium Are There?
There is one other form of Tellurium, it is
called Native Tellurium. However, Native
Tellurium is extremely rare. Only small
quantities have been found, and it is only of
interest to a mineral collector. Or else it
can be used as an ore of Tellurium.
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The Uses of Native Tellurium
Native Tellurium is usually used in the process
of creating rubber. It can also be used
medically, and as a color for glass. Still, one
more use is as a gasoline additive to reduce
engine knock.
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To Sum It All Up...
One Important Tip Dont Ever Go Within Five
Feet of Tellurium Unless It Has Been
Safely Secured!
Has a metallic-lustered appearance Is extremely
brittle In air, Tellurium burns with a
greenish-blue flames, forming a dioxide.