Beautiful Emerald and Aquamarine: They Contain the Dangerous Metal BERYLLIUM. Ever Heard of It?
It's the old story of Beauty and the Beast. Only this time, Beauty and Beast are one and the same. Or, theoretically, they could be.
The beautiful forest-green gem, emerald, truly rare in comparison to diamond, and the aquamarine, that light-colored vision of loveliness, both contain the potentially deadly metal, BERYLLIUM.
Beryllium is truly a mysterious metal. Probably most people have never heard of it, yet it is one of the first metals in the Periodic Table of the Elements. In fact, it is second only to lithium, and has an atomic number of just four.
It is a fairly exciting substance, as far as its physics is concerned, but if one is exposed to it in powder form (in particular), watch out for the horrible disease Berylliosis or CBD (chronic beryllium disease).
Read more about this fascinating metal in the article:
Beryllium Metal : the Seldom-Discussed, Tiny Atom of Curious Properties
and be sure to check out the brief video in the references section.
Image Credit » Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/scarab-green-gold-beetle-insect-2535678/
Comments
MegL wrote on September 30, 2018, 8:35 AM
Most beauties contain some beast and many beasts some beauty.
1VinceSummers wrote on September 30, 2018, 8:47 AM
Arg! There is NOW. Thanks.
lookatdesktop wrote on September 30, 2018, 1:48 PM
Very strange and to think I have been ingesting LITHIUM for so many years. I must be half way made of metal. But BERYLLIUM looks so beautiful. And knowing it is second only after Lithium in the Periodic Chart of the Elements. Must be similar in other ways as well. I am fond of Sodium Chloride Crystals myself. And I am mostly made up of salt too.
1