Beryllium

Beryllium is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Be and atomic number 4. A toxic bivalent element, beryllium is a steel grey, strong, light-weight yet brittle, alkaline earth metal, that is primarily used as a hardening agent in alloys (most notably, beryllium copper).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beryllium has one of the highest melting points of the light metals. The modulus of elasticity of beryllium is approximately 1/3 greater than that of steel. It has excellent thermal conductivity, is nonmagnetic and resists attack by concentrated nitric acid. It is highly permeable to X-rays, and neutrons are liberated when it is hit by alpha particles, as from radium or polonium (about 30 neutrons/million alpha particles). At standard temperature and pressures beryllium resists oxidation when exposed to air (although its ability to scratch glass is probably due to the formation of a thin layer of the oxide).

Chemical element: A chemical element, often called simply element, is the class of atoms which contain the same number of protons....

Periodic table: The periodic table of the chemical elements, also called the Mendeleev periodic table, is a tabular display of the known chemical elements. First created by Dmitri Mendeleev, the elements are arranged by electron configuration so that many chemical properties follow a regular pattern across the tabl...

Atomic number: The atomic number (Z) is a term used in chemistry and physics to represent the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom. In an atom of neutral charge, the number of electrons typically equals the atomic number....