Barium

56

Ba

137.327(7)

  • Name: Barium
  • Symbol: Ba
  • Atomic number: 56
  • Atomic weight: 137.327(7)
  • CAS Registry ID: 7440-39-3
  • Group name: Alkaline earth metal
  • Period number: 6
  • Block: s-block
  • Switch:
  • Compare Element

Description

Barium is an alkaline earth metal that is a silvery white solid in its natural state. It is a soft metal that is very reactive in air. Barium has an atomic weight of 137.327, a melting point of 1341 °F, and a boiling point of 3447 °F. Some common uses of barium include: as a compound for drilling mud and oil wells, as a sulfate in x-ray imaging, as an alloy with nickel in spark plug wire, as a component in glassmaking processes, as a carbonate in brick making, and in the production of rubber.

enlarge image


Isolation

Barium does not occur in nature in its free form, and isolation processes are used to extract barium for commercial purposes.

enlarge image

Barium occurs in nature in mineral form. The most common minerals which contain barium are barite, a barium sulfate, and witherite which contains barium carbonate. The extraction process of barium is complicated because barium is so reactive with air; isolated barium oxidizes quickly in the air and so its pure form is not used very often. For commercial barium uses, barium is isolated from the mineral barite. The isolation process uses electrolysis of melted barium chloride to yield pure barium. Barium chloride is formed from the barium sulfate. Molten barium chloride serves as the cathode and the chlorine serves as the anode; electrolysis of these elements causes separation. Another isolation process reduced barium oxide by reacting it with aluminum on a 6 to 2 basis. The result from this reduction process is pure barium and a barium aluminum oxide compound. Pure barium has to be stored carefully to prevent it from being oxidized by air.


General
Name Barium
Symbol Ba
Number 56
Chemical series alkaline earth metals
Group 2
Period 6
Block s
Appearance silvery white
Standard atomic weight 137.327(7)  g·mol−1
Electron configuration [Xe] 6s2
Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 18, 8, 2
Atomic properties
Crystal structure cubic body centered
Oxidation states 2 (strongly basic oxide)
Electronegativity 0.89 (scale Pauling)
Ionization energies 1st: 502.9 kJ/mol
(more) 2nd: 965.2 kJ/mol
(more) 3rd: 3600 kJ/mol
Atomic radius 215 pm
Atomic radius (calc.) 253 pm
Covalent radius 198 pm
Van der Waals radius
Physical properties
Phase solid
Density (near r.t.) 3.51  g·cm−3
Liquid density at m.p. 3.338  g·cm−3
Melting point 1000 K (727 °C, 1341 °F)
Boiling point 2170 K (1897 °C, 3447 °F)
Critical point
Heat of fusion 7.12  kJ·mol−1
Heat of vaporization 140.3  kJ·mol−1
Heat capacity (25 °C) 28.07  J·mol−1·K−1
Miscellaneous
Magnetic ordering paramagnetic
Electrical resistivity (20 °C) 332 n Ω·m
Thermal conductivity (300 K) 18.4  W·m−1·K−1
Thermal expansion (25 °C) 20.6  µm·m−1·K−1
Speed of sound (thin rod) (20 °C) 1620 m/s
Young's modulus 13 GPa
Shear modulus 4.9 GPa
Bulk modulus 9.6 GPa
Poisson ratio
Mohs hardness 1.25
Vickers hardness
Brinell hardness
CAS registry number 7440-39-3

Print this page Bookmark this page

Hide/View all projects Hide all projects Hide/View all projects

All Projects List

  • Accelerate Rusting
  • Acids And Bases
  • Additive Colors
  • Ant Microphotography
  • Apple Mummy
  • Balloon Rocket Car
  • Barney Banana
  • Bending Water
  • Bernoulli’s Principle
  • Blind Spot in Vision
  • Boiling Point of Water
  • Build an Electromagnet
  • Build an Inclinometer
  • Caffeine And Typing
  • Candle Race
  • Candy Molecules
  • Capillarity of Soils
  • Carbon in the Atmosphere
  • Checking vs. Savings
  • Chemical Metamorphosis
  • Clean Cleaners
  • Cleaning Oil Spills
  • Climbing Colors
  • Cloud Cover
  • CO2 & Photosynthesis
  • Collecting DNA
  • Colorful Celery
  • Coloring Matter in Food
  • Colors And Temperature
  • Composition of a Shell
  • Computer Passwords
  • Construct a Lung Model
  • Corrosiveness of Soda
  • Create a Heat Detector
  • Create Lightening
  • Cultivate Slime Molds
  • Cup of Lava
  • Dehydrated Potato
  • Desalinate Sea Water
  • Detergents and Plants
  • Dissolving in Liquids
  • Dissolving Solutes
  • Distillation of Water
  • Double Color Flower
  • Egg in a Bottle
  • Enzyme Activity
  • Eroding Away
  • Erosion Simulator
  • Evaportating Liquids
  • Expanding Soap
  • Exploding Ziploc
  • Extracting Starch
  • Fans And Body Temp
  • Fertilizer & Plants
  • Filtration of Water
  • Floating Ball Experiment
  • Floating Balloon
  • Fog Formation
  • Font and Memory
  • Food and Academics
  • Friction And Vibration
  • Fruit Battery Power
  • Full and Low Fat Foods
  • Galileo's Experiment
  • Gas To Liquid
  • Grape Juice & Cleaners
  • Gravity and Plants
  • Green Slime
  • Growing a Crystal
  • Growing Bread Mold
  • Growing Population
  • Haemoglobin Binding
  • Hard vs. Soft Water
  • Homemade Floam
  • Home-made Geodes
  • Home-Made Glue #1
  • Homemade Snowflakes
  • Home-made Stethoscope
  • Homemade Volcano
  • Homemade Windmill
  • Human Battery Power
  • Inertia of an Egg
  • Information and CD’s
  • Invisible Ink
  • Isolation of Bread Mold
  • Isolation of DNA
  • Jar Compass
  • Lemon Floaties
  • Levers And Force
  • Lift an Ice Cube
  • Light Colors and Plants
  • Long Lasting Bubbles
  • Magic Balloons
  • Magnified Light
  • Make a Compost Pile
  • Make a Fuse Model
  • Make a Parallel Circuit
  • Make An Elevator
  • Make Electric Circuits
  • Make Limestone
  • Make Objects Float
  • Make Static Electricity
  • Make your own sundial
  • Matchbox Guitar
  • Math and Gender
  • Mean, Median and Range
  • Measuring Air Pollution
  • Mentos Soda Volcano
  • Microbial Contaminants
  • Milky Plastic
  • Mini Greenhouse
  • Missing Reflection
  • Mixing With Water
  • Molls Experiment
  • Music and Plants
  • Musical Bottles
  • Nocturnal Plants
  • Ocean Life & Oil Spills
  • Ocean Temperature
  • Optical Mice
  • Oral Bacteria
  • Orange Water Volume
  • Organic vs. Inorganic
  • Osmosis
  • Oven Baked Ice Cream
  • Oxygen & Photosynthesis
  • Paper Bridge
  • Paper Marbling
  • Pascal’s Law
  • Play-Doh and Volume
  • Preserve Spider Webs
  • Pressure Volcano
  • Pulse Rates
  • Pythagorean Tuning
  • Refraction in Water
  • Rollercoasters & Loops
  • Rubber Bones
  • Rubber Heat Reaction
  • Rubbery Egg
  • Rust and Moisture
  • Search Engines
  • Secondary Colors
  • Seed Germination
  • Seed Germination II
  • Separate Salt And Pepper
  • Snappy Sounds
  • Soil Erosion
  • Soil vs. Hydroponics
  • Sound Waves
  • Spectrum through Water
  • Speed of Decomposition
  • Speed of Dissolving
  • Spore Prints
  • Star Observer
  • Static Electricity
  • Statistics and M&M’s
  • Stem-less Flowers
  • Super Strength Egg
  • Sweet Erosion
  • Temperature and CPUs
  • Thirsty Rocks
  • Tornado Demonstration
  • Translucent Egg
  • Transpiration in Plants
  • Typing and Speed
  • Vibrating Coin
  • Volcanic Gas
  • Water and Living Things
  • Water Displacement
  • Water Evaporation
  • Water pH
  • Your Planetary Age