Beryllium

  BERYLLIUM

Symbol --- Be

Abundance --- 0.00019% in earth's crust.

Physical state --- solid

Elemental Category --- Alkaline earth metal

Colour --- white-gray

Discovery --- Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1798)

Atomic no --- 4

Atomic weight --- 9.012

Period --- 2

Group --- 2

Block --- s-block

Known Isotopes--- ₄Be⁷ ₄Be⁹ ₄Be¹⁰

Stable Isotopes --- ₄Be⁹ 

Isotopic abundance --- ₄Be⁹ (100%)

Melting Point --- 1560 K (1287⁰C)

Boiling Point --- 2742 K (2469⁰C)

Density --- 1.84 g/cc

Electron Configuration --- [He] 2s²

Oxidation State --- +2

Valence --- 2

Electronegativity --- 1.57

Ionisation Energy --- 900 KJ/mol (1st), 1757 KJ/mol (2nd), 14840 KJ/mol (3rd)

Covalent Radius --- 96 pm

Van der Waals radius --- 153 pm

Crystal Structure --- hcp (hexagonal close packed) 

Heat of fusion --- 12.1 KJ/mol

Heat of vaporisation --- 293 KJ/mol

Molar heat capacity --- 16.45 J/mol-K

Specific heat --- 1820 J/(Kg-K)

Thermal conductivity --- 195 W/(m k) 

Molar volume --- 0.00000487

Speed of sound --- 12895 m/s

Magnetic type --- diamagnetic

Mass magnetic susceptibility ---   -1.26x10^-8 m³/kg

Molar magnetic susceptibility --- - 1.136 x 10^-10 m³/mol 

Lattice angles --- π/2, π/2, π/3

Lattice constants --- 228 pm,228 pm,358 pm

Quantum numbers --- ¹S₀

Neutron cross section --- 0.009

Electrical conductivity --- 2.5 x 10⁷ S/m

Electrical resistivity --- 36 nΩ m

Mohs hardness --- 5.5

Brinell hardness --- 595 MPa

Young's modulus --- 287 GPa

Bulk modulus --- 130 GPa

Shear modulus --- 132 GPa

Poisson ratio --- 0.032

Vickers hardness --- 1670 MPa

Beryllium is of very rare abundance in the universe, it is produced as a product of the spallation reaction. When a larger atomic nucleus collided with cosmic ray’s spallation reaction occur, as a result of this reaction beryllium is produced. Beryllium is of very low abundance in the earth’s crust. The major ores of beryllium are beryl Be₃Al₂(SiO₃)₆ and phenacite Be₂SiO₄. Beryllium is extracted from these ore. Beryllium is the second lightest metal after lithium and quite hard and brittle in nature. Beryllium is used for windows material in X-ray tubes and it is largely used to improve the properties of Cu and Ni alloys. In the nuclear reactor beryllium is used as moderator and also used in electronic industries.

ABOUT BERYLLIUM