Discovery Information
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Who: Juns Berzelius |
When: 1828 |
Where: Sweden |
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Name Origin
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From the Scandinavian god Thor. |
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Sources
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Found in various minerals like monazite and thorite. Thorium is found in small amounts in most rocks and soils (about 6ppm),
where it is three times more abundant than uranium and about as common as lead.
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Uses
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Used in making strong alloys, ultraviolet photoelectric cells, mantles in portable gas lights, coating tungsten wire in electronic equipment, . Bombarded with neutrons make uranium-233, a nuclear fuel.
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Thorium dioxide (ThO2) is used in producing high-temperature laboratory crucibles. When added to glass it helps create glasses of a high refractive
index and with low dispersion. Consequently, they find application in high-quality lenses for cameras and scientific instruments.
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Notes
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Thorium dioxide (ThO2), also called thoria, has one of the highest melting points of all oxides (3300'C).
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