BERYLLIUM (BE)

last update 01 oct 08

* Beryllium is a member of the alkaline earth metals family:

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   BERYLLIUM / Be / 4

   A lustrous, silvery-white, generally inert metal.  Natural deposits
   of beryllium are of stable Be<9/4>, though transient traces of
   radioactive Be<10/4>, with a half-life of 1.5 million years are
   produced by cosmic ray impacts and can be detected in the
   atmosphere.

     atomic weight:       9.01218
     abundance:           47th 
     density:             1.848 g/cc
     melting point:       1,278 C
     boiling point:       2,970 C
     valence:             2
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Beryllium is used in relatively small amounts as an alloying element, giving materials that have improved corrosion resistance, higher heat resistance, and greater hardness. The fact that it is transparent to X rays makes beryllium metal useful in some applications, such as for windows on X-ray tubes.