Polonium,Po

Properties

• Name: Polonium
• Atomic Number: 84
• Chemical Symbol: Po
• Electronic Configuration: [Xe]4f¹⁴5d¹⁰6s²6p⁴
• Discovery:Pierre and Marie Curie (1898)
• Most Common Elementary Substance : Po
• Elementary Substance Class : Semi-metal
• Origin : Natural
• Physical State : Solid
• Density [298K] : 9320 kg m^-3
• Cristal Lattice : cubic
• Melting Point : 527 K
• Boiling Point : 1235 K
• Electrical Conductivity [298K] : 7.14x10⁵ Ohm^-1m^-1
• Thermal Conductivity [300K] : 20 W m^-1K^-1
• Heat of:
  • Fusion: 10 kJ mol^-1
  • Vaporization: 100.8 kJ mol^-1
  • Atomization: 144 kJ mol^-1

Polonium is a silver coloured solid. It was the first element to be discovered through its radioactivity.

Sources

Polonium does not have any stable isotopes and it is one of the scarcest elements than occur in Nature (in uraninite and other uranium ores).

Uses

The study of polonium compounds is particularly difficult due to the high radioactivity of the element, but it is used in nuclear batteries and as both a neutron source and an anti static agent.

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