Discovery Information
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Who: Andreas Marggraf |
When: 1764 |
Where: Germany |
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Name Origin
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German: zin (German for tin). |
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Sources
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Found in the minerals zinc blende (sphalerite) (ZnS), calamine, franklinite, smithsonite (ZnCO3), willemite, and zincite (ZnO). The largest producers are Australia, Canada, Peru and the USA.
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Uses
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Used to coat other metals (galvanizing) to protect them from rusting. Used in alloys such as brass, bronze, nickel. Also in
solder, cosmetics and pigments.
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Zinc Oxide is used as a white pigment in watercolours and paints. It can also be found as an over-the-counter ointment that
is appplied to the exposed skin of the face or nose to prevent dehydration. It can also prevent sunburn.
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Zinc Chloride (ZnCl2) is used as a deodorant and can also be used as wood preservative.
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Zinc Sulfide (ZnS) is used in luminescent pigments such as those on the hands of clocks and other items that glow in the dark. |
Calamine lotion, used to treat skin rashes, is a mix of Zn-(hydroxy-)carbonates and silicates. |
Throat lozenges, used as remedies for the common cold, use Zinc Gluconate Glycine (C12H22O14Zn) and Zinc acetate.
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Notes
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Zinc is an essential element, necessary for sustaining all life. It is estimated that 3000 of the hundreds of thousands of
proteins in the human body contain zinc.
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