Polonium [Po] (CAS-ID: 7440-08-6) locate me
An: 84 N: 125 Am: [209]
Group No: 16  Group Name: Chalcogen
Block: p-block  Period: 6
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery Classification: Metallic
Boiling Point: 1235K (962'C)
Melting Point: 527K (254'C)
Density: (alpha) 9.196g/cm3
Density: (beta) 9.398g/cm3
Shell Structure diagram | Atomic Radius diagram
Isotopes | More Info
Discovery Information
Who: Pierre and Marie Curie
When: 1898
Where: France
Name Origin
From Poland, country of Pierre and Marie Curie.
Sources
Occurs in pitchblende from decay of radium.
Uses
Used for nuclear batteries, neutron source, antistatic agents, film cleaner.
Notes
Polonium has more isotopes than any other element, all of which are radioactive. Polonium dissolves readily in dilute acids, but is only slightly soluble in alkalis.
Polonium is highly radioactive and extremely toxic. Even milligram or microgram amounts, handling polonium-210 is very dangerous and requires special equipment used with strict procedures. Direct damage occurs from energy absorption into tissues from alpha particles. Weight for weight it is about 2.5 x 1011 times as toxic as hydrocyanic acid (HCN). A milligram of polonium-210 emits as many alpha particles (helium nuclei) as 5 grams of radium. Polonium has been found in tobacco as a contaminant and in uranium ores.
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