Term: cadmium (Cd)
Literally meaning:
“”
Origin: Anc Greek
καδμεία=ancient name for calamine
(zinc carbonate) =a cadmium bearing mixture of minerals > Κάδμος=Cadmus (the founder of Thebes).
Coined/History
The element was discovered simultaneously in 1817 by professor
of metallurgy Friedrich Stromeyer (1776-1835) and Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann
as an impurity in zinc carbonate. In the 19th century Zinc oxide was
used for a number of ailments. Hermann
had found the new metal in it and had sent samples to Stromeyer, for further
examination. Stromeyer isolated the new
metal and had named it Kadmiumin Autumn from the latin cadmia, an older name
for the zinc ore calamine (zink carbonate, ZnCO3). The name cadmia is derived from the Greek “κάδμεια γη” meaning cadmean earth (=calamine), zinc ore
first found near city Thebes. The city was founded c.1450 BC by the Phoenician
prince Κάδμος, brother of Eυρώπῆ (Europe). According legend Cadmus
was the first to have found a zinc rock and to notice that it gave a golden
tinge to copper during smelting.
- J.C.H.
Roloff, "Zur Geschichte des Kadmium". Annalen der Physik N.F. 31 (1819), pp. 205-210.
- C.S.
Hermann, "Noch ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Kadmiums". Annalen der Physik N.F. 36 (1820), pp. 285-289.
Definition
Cadmium (Cd) is a chemical element with atomic number
48 and atomic mass 112.411. Cadmium is a white very volatile poisonous metal and its use is somewhat
limited for this reason. The only mineral which contains a significant amount
of Cadmium is known as Greenockite (Cds).
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