Name: polonium | Group number: 16 |
Symbol: Po | Group name: Chalcogen |
Atomic number: 84 | Period number: 6 |
Atomic weight: [ 209 ] | Block: p-block |
CAS Registry ID: 7440-08-6 | Voice:  |
Standard state: solid at 298 K | Colour: silvery |
Classification: Metallic | Availability: |
 Image adapted with permission from Prof James Marshall"s (U. North Texas, USA) Walking Tour of the elements CD.Polonium has more isotopes than any other element, all of which are radioactive. Polonium dissolves readily in dilute acids, but is only slightly soluble in alkalis. Weight for weight it is about 2.5 x 1011 times as toxic as hydrocyanic acid (HCN). Polonium has been found in tobacco as a contaminant and in uranium ores. IsolationHere is a brief summary of the isolation of polonium.Polonium is radioactive and excessivley rare in nature. It is made in very small qunatities through a nuclear reaction of bismuth. Neutron irradiation of 209bismuth (atomic number 83) gives 210polonium (atomic number 84). 209Bi + 1n 210Po + e- Metallic polonium can be fractionally distilled from the bismuth or electrodeposited onto a metal surface such as silver. | |