Cadmium | Chemistry

Hudsonville High School, Hudsonville, Michigan, U.S.A.

Cadmium, 48, Hudsonville High School, Michigan, U.S.A.

Cadmium: Our tile represents cadmium, the 48th element. Cadmium, a soft, bluish-white metal, was discovered simultaneously in 1817 by Friedrich Stromeyer and Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann, of Germany. One of the most common uses of cadmium can be found in rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. Skull and crossbones represent its high level of toxicity and a green glow was added because it can be found in the blue and green phosphors for color television picture tubes. The wooden frame around the image represents an old black and white television since cadmium compounds were used in black and white television phosphors.

Drawn by Sydney Smith, Doug Ragan, Hudsonville High School, Hudsonville, Michigan, U.S.A.

Atomic properties*

Name:

Cadmium

Symbol:

Cd

Atomic number:

48

Atomic mass:

112.411 amu

Melting point:

321.07°C

Boiling point:

767°C

Density:

8.69 g/cm³

Electronegativity:

1.69

# of Isotopes:

8

State:

Solid

Colour:

Silvery-grey±

Classification:

Metallic±

* Haynes, W. M. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 91st edition: http://www.hbcponline.com/ Retrieved April 7, 2011

± Winter, M. (2010). Home of the Periodic Table. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from Web Elements: http://www.webelements.com/