Discovery date : approx 1500
Discovered by: -
Origin of the name: The name come from the German 'Bisemutum' a corruption of 'Weisse Masse' meaning white mass.
Allotropes :
~>BISMUTH is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a pentavalent post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, chemically resembles its lighter homologs arsenic and antimony.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 15 | Melting point | 271.406°C, 520.531°F, 544.556 K |
| Period | 6 | Boiling point | 1564°C, 2847°F, 1837 K |
| Block | p | Density (g cm−3) | 9.79 |
| Atomic number | 83 | Relative atomic mass | 208.980 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 209Bi |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f145d106s26p3 | CAS number | 7440-69-9 |
| ChemSpider ID | 4514266 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Bismuth was discovered by an unknown alchemist around 1400 AD. Later that century it was alloyed with lead to make cast type for printers and decorated caskets were being crafted in the metal. Bismuth was often confused with lead; it was likewise a heavy metal and melted at a relatively low temperature making it easy to work. Georgius Agricola in the early 1500s speculated that it was a distinctly different metal, as did Caspar Neuman in the early 1700s, but proof that it was so finally came in 1753 thanks to the work of Claude-François Geoffroy.
Bismuth was used as an alloying metal in the bronze of the Incas of South America around 1500 AD. Bismuth was not mined as ore but appears to have occurred as the native metal.