All atoms which contain 17 protons are called chlorine atoms. Adding or removing a proton from an atom’s nucleus changes that atom’s atomic number and creates a different element. Chlorine-35 and chlorine-37 are both isotopes of the element chlorine.

For example, the relative atomic mass of chlorine is 35.5 rather than a whole number. This is because chlorine contains two different isotopes, chlorine-35 and chlorine-37. The table shows the mass numbers and abundances of the isotopes of copper in a naturally-occurring sample.

Gas

Neutral atoms of each element contain an equal number of protons and electrons. The number of protons determines an element’s atomic number and is used to distinguish one element from another. Together, the number of protons and the number of neutrons determine an element’s mass number.

Beryllium is used in alloys with copper or nickel to make gyroscopes, springs, electrical contacts, spot-welding electrodes and non-sparking tools. Other beryllium alloys are used as structural materials for high-speed aircraft, missiles, spacecraft and communication satellites.

Beryllium is not an element that is crucial for humans; in fact it is one of the most toxic chemicals we know. It is a metal that can be very harmful when humans breathe it in, because it can damage the lungs and cause pneumonia.

Beryllium is a Group 2 lead-gray colored metal with a very high melting point of 1287 °C (2349 °F). Interesting Beryllium Facts: It is a hard metal, but is brittle at room temperature. Beryllium salts have a sweet taste, and the element was once called glucine with a symbol of Gl due to its flavor.

Beryllium is most commonly extracted from the mineral beryl, which is either sintered using an extraction agent or melted into a soluble mixture. The sintering process involves mixing beryl with sodium fluorosilicate and soda at 770 °C (1,420 °F) to form sodium fluoroberyllate, aluminium oxide and silicon dioxide.

OSHA is about to enforce requirements to limit exposure to Beryllium on job sites and for a good reason–It is deadly. Like other respirable particulates found in construction, beryllium has been linked to a lung disease, specifically chronic beryllium disease. The disease kills around 100 people each year.

Beryllium is primarily produced using bertrandite and beryl ores. High-purity beryllium is expensive owing to its properties such as high stiffness, lightweight, and high elastic modulus.

Because the salts of beryllium have a sweet taste, the element was also known as glucinium from the Greek glykys for “sweet”, until IUPAC selected the name beryllium in 1949.

Be

What does it look, feel, taste, or smell like? Beryllium has a sweet taste to it, but due to its toxicity it should never be eaten or sampled. It has no odor. It is grey, and light-weight.

Ninety-eight-percent pure beryllium is expensive, selling from $600 to $800 per pound prior to machining, so shops must understand its machining idiosyncracies to avoid scrapping progressively expensive parts.

Steel

francium

rhodium