Cadmium [HISTORY] --- CA Periodic Table

HISTORY
Historical Background: dicoverer; story, date, place, event and experiment of discovery.

SUMMARY

: Historical Facts________________________--_-

Discovered by

Friedrich Stromeyer_________________-______________

Germany____________________________________-_-

Location of discovery

Date of discovery

1817____________________________________________-_-

Latin word "cadmia' and Greek word
"kadmeia"; meaning "calamine" (ZnCO₃) --

Origin of the name "Cadmium

Method of discovery

Discovered from an impure sample
of zinc carbonate________--_______________________

_____Friedrich Stromeyer, a significant scientist in the nineteenth century, was at the origin of the discovery of Cadmium (Cd). In 1817, he obtained a sample of zinc carbonate for laboratory use(ZnCO₃). Stromeyer observed that the peculiar samples changed colour during heating, a characteristic which did not exist in pure zinc carbonate. This impurity in the zinc carbonate led the curious scientist to hypothesize that another element was contained in his sample. Eventually, Stromeyer proved his educated guess, by following through with his curiosity and isolating fragments of the bluish-white metal (later to be called "Cadmium").
_____Nowadays, scientists know that cadmium most often occurs in minuscule quantities, generally associated with zinc "ores" (ie: sphalerite ZnS). The only mineral which contains a significant amount of Cadmium is known as Greenockite (CdS). Because Cadmium is a bluish-white, soft metal which is easily cut with a knife, it is very similar to its "brother", Zinc. This misleading characteristic was uncovered by Stromeyer J years ago!