Richard Smith, age l2, of Anderson, SC, for his question:
What is beryllium?
Our luxury planet is built from chemical elements, and only 92 different elements are found in all its solids, liquids and gasses. Other known elements are not considered natural to our earth. One of the natural elements is beryllium. Though a thousand times more plentiful than gold, beryllium is a rare metal and much harder to find that precious gold.
Beryllium is a useful metal that is extracted from jewels and gem stones. It was first discovered in l798 as one of the ingredients in a delicately tinted beryl crystal and was named beryllium for the gem stone in which it was found. Beryllium has become a valuable ingredient in the metal industry' but it still must be extracted from beryl. Its chief ore is a crystal gem stone.
Beryllium is a metallic element. It is made of atoms of one kind, and it has a slot on the periodic table where it is classed in the element family of alkaline earths. Its atomic number is four; hence its small atom has four protons and four orbiting electrons. Beryllium is the lightest of the solid elememts, but it is strong and remains rigid at high temperatures.
Its melting point is 2,345 Fahrenheit degrees. No wonder this lightweight, durable heat resistant metal is one of the ingredients used in spacecraft nose cones, the silvery gray metal has other useful qualities. It is a talented alloy metal. T,l7hen added to more common metals, a trace of beryllium adds extra strength and elasticity. It is added to seething brews of aluminum or copper, iron or nickel, and the finished alloy has qualities superior to the separate ingredients.
The elasticity of beryllium alloys makes them useful for springs gears and other metal parts that need to yield slightly and bounce back under stress. Beryllium alloys also make splendid cutting tools. The light gray element is not transparent but x rays can pass through it. For this reason, beryllium is used to make windows in x ray tubes.
Most beryllium comes from beryl deposits mined in south america. The metal is extracted by electrolysis. Beryllium is a rare metallic element taken from valuable gem stones by a very costly process.
Beryl is a mineral compound of molecules made from atoms of beryllium, aluminum, silicon and oxygen. Its glassy crystals are hexagons sometimes an inch, sometimes l0 feet or more in length. Some of the gleaming crystals weigh more than 25 tons. They may be clear or tinted with yellow or green, pink of blue. Rare samples of beryl are emeralds colored with vivid green.