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:

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.

Isolation

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.