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What is Chromium? Origin / Meaning of the name Chromium
The name originates
from the Greek word chroma meaning color
What is Chromium? Periodic Table Group and Classification of the Chromium Element
Elements can be classified based on their physical states (States
of Matter) e.g. gas, solid or liquid. This element is a solid. Chromium
is
classified as a "Transition Metal" which are located in Groups 3 -
12 of the Periodic Table. Elements classified as
Transition Metals are generally described as ductile, malleable, and able to conduct electricity and heat.Nearly 75% of all the elements in the Periodic Table
are classified as metals which are detailed in the
List of Metals.
Facts about the History
and the
Discovery
of the Chromium
Element
Chromium was discovered by
Louis Vauquelin
in 1797 who was also able to detect traces of chromium in precious
gems, such as ruby and emerald. Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin also
discovered
Beryllium. Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin rose from being
born as the son of a peasant to an eminent chemist. He started
his career working in an apothocary shop and then he became the
laboratory assistant of Antoine-François Fourcroy before
becoming an authority in his own right eventually chemistry
professor at the Paris Faculty of Medicine.
Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin
(1763-1829)
What is Chromium? Occurrence of the Chromium Element
Occurrence of Chromium. The ore from which all chromium
compounds are made is chromite, or chrome iron ore (FeCr2O4).
The element also occurs in small quantities in many other
minerals, especially in crocoisite (PbCrO4), in which mineral it
was first discovered.
What is Chromium?
Preparation of Chromium
Chromium, like manganese, is
very hard to reduce from its ores, owing to its great affinity
for
Oxygen. It can, however, be made by the same methods which
have proved successful with manganese. Considerable quantities
of an alloy of chromium with iron, called ferrochromium, are now
produced for the steel industry.
Abundances of the element in different environments
% in Universe
0.0015%
% in Sun 0.002%
% in Meteorites 0.3%
% in Earth's Crust 0.014%
% in Oceans 6×10-8%
% in Humans 3×10-6%
Associated Uses of Chromium
Dyes and paints
Stainless steel
Metallurgy
Chrome plating
Green rouge metal polish
Magnetic tape
Hexavalent chromium
Chromium trioxide 30.0 /day
What is Chromium? The
Properties of the Chromium Element
Properties. Chromium is a
very hard metal of about the same density as iron. It is one of
the most infusible of the metals, requiring a temperature little
short of 3000° for fusion. At ordinary temperatures air has
little action on it; at higher temperatures, however, it burns
brilliantly.
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