Elemental Bromine
“What’s that Awful Smell”? - Bromine
There are 118 known elements to man, and each of them differ in its own way. They vary from weight, structure, color, and much more, but many of them are similar to others and can be grouped accordingly. One element that varies drastically from others is one whose stench is so horrible, that the original name of the element was changed from muride to bromos, which means “stench” in Greek. Thus, bromine was named. Like many other known elements, bromine was discovered by two chemists. Carl Jacob Lowig discovered bromine in 1825 from a mineral water spring. The publishing of his findings and research was delayed, so chemist Antoine Balard is also accredited for discovering the element. He discovered bromine in the ashes of seaweed from the salt marshes of Montpellier. Balard’s results were published and presented at a lecture at the Académie des Sciences in France. Today, it is sufficient for scientists to treat brines from wells with chlorine to obtain bromine.
Bromine is classified as a halogen and found in Group 17, Period 4, p-block on the periodic table. Its chemical symbol is Br and its atomic number is 35. Bromine’s atomic weight is 79.904 and has 35 electrons and protons. Elemental bromine exists as a diatomic molecule; Br2. Bromine is the only liquid nonmetallic element. It is a heavy, volatile, mobile, dangerous reddish-brown liquid that vaporizes rapidly at standard temperature and pressures to give an orange vapor that has a strong unpleasant odor. It is one of only two elements on the periodic table that are known to be liquids at room temperature. At a pressure of 55 GPa bromine converts to a metal. Bromine’s melting point is 265.8K and boils at 332K. Bromine has a density of 3.119 g/cm3. Being less reactive than chlorine but more reactive than iodine, bromine reacts vigorously with metals, especially in the presence of water, to give bromide salts. It bonds easily with many elements and has a strong bleaching
There are 118 known elements to man, and each of them differ in its own way. They vary from weight, structure, color, and much more, but many of them are similar to others and can be grouped accordingly. One element that varies drastically from others is one whose stench is so horrible, that the original name of the element was changed from muride to bromos, which means “stench” in Greek. Thus, bromine was named. Like many other known elements, bromine was discovered by two chemists. Carl Jacob Lowig discovered bromine in 1825 from a mineral water spring. The publishing of his findings and research was delayed, so chemist Antoine Balard is also accredited for discovering the element. He discovered bromine in the ashes of seaweed from the salt marshes of Montpellier. Balard’s results were published and presented at a lecture at the Académie des Sciences in France. Today, it is sufficient for scientists to treat brines from wells with chlorine to obtain bromine.
Bromine is classified as a halogen and found in Group 17, Period 4, p-block on the periodic table. Its chemical symbol is Br and its atomic number is 35. Bromine’s atomic weight is 79.904 and has 35 electrons and protons. Elemental bromine exists as a diatomic molecule; Br2. Bromine is the only liquid nonmetallic element. It is a heavy, volatile, mobile, dangerous reddish-brown liquid that vaporizes rapidly at standard temperature and pressures to give an orange vapor that has a strong unpleasant odor. It is one of only two elements on the periodic table that are known to be liquids at room temperature. At a pressure of 55 GPa bromine converts to a metal. Bromine’s melting point is 265.8K and boils at 332K. Bromine has a density of 3.119 g/cm3. Being less reactive than chlorine but more reactive than iodine, bromine reacts vigorously with metals, especially in the presence of water, to give bromide salts. It bonds easily with many elements and has a strong bleaching
Bibliography: • Bromine.” – Element Information, Properties and Uses. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . • Gray, Theodore W., and Nick Mann. The Elements: A visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe. New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2010. Print. • Krebs, Robert E. The History and Use of Our Earth’s Chemical Elements: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print. • Mineral Information Institute. “Bromine.” Bromine. N.p., 15 Oct. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2013 .