INTRODUCTION
Caesium is a soft, white, chemically reactive metallic element.It's name was derive from the greek word 'caesius', meaning 'sky blue' due to pair of bright blue lines in the element’s spectrum.
It ranks about 46th in natural abundance among the elements in crustal rocks.It oxidizes readily when exposed to air and is thus used to remove residual oxygen from radio vacuum tubes.
BASIC INFORMATIONS
- Atomic Number
- 55
- Atomic Mass
- 132.905452
- Atomic radius
- 0.235
- Ionization energy
- 376
- Electronic config
- 2,8,18,18,8,1
- Principal Valency
- +1
- Density g/cm³
- 1.90
- Melting point °C
- 28.44
- Boiling point °C
- 671
- Type of Element
- Metal
- Electronegativity
- 0.7
- Element Category
- Alkaline Metal
- Appearance
- White solid
- Block
- s-block
- Period
- 6
- Group
- 1
- No of Isotopes
- 40
- Occurrence
- Combine form
- Abundance in ppm
- 2.6
- Year of Discovery
- 1860
EXTRACTION
It is extracted by the electrolysis of it's fused salt (often Halides)
OXIDATION STATES
+1 (Strongly basic)
MAJOR SOURCE
pollux (pollucite), lepidolite, carnallite
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND PRESENT
Caesium oxide
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
* Due to its property of emitting electrons when exposed to light, it is used in the photosensitive surface of the cathode of the photoelectric cell.
* The radioactive isotope cesium-137, which is produced by nuclear fission, is a useful by-product of atomic-energy plants.
* Cesium-137 emits more energy than radium and is used in medical and industrial research.
* Caesium is used to remove residual oxygen from radio vacuum tubes.
