Cadmium (Cd)

Cadmium is a soft, malleable, ductile, bluish-white divalent metal.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Friedrich Stromeyer discovered cadmium in 1817 as an impurity in zinc carbonate from German pharmacies.
• It is a toxic heavy metal that readily captures thermal neutrons, a property exploited in nuclear reactor control rods.
• Cadmium is used in nickel-cadmium batteries, brilliant yellow and red artists' pigments, and cadmium telluride thin-film solar panels.

Specifications & Metrics

• NUM: 48
• SYMBOL: Cd
• CATEGORY: Transition Metal
• ATOMIC MASS: 112.41 u
• ELECTRONEGATIVITY: 1.69 Pauling
• ATOMIC RADIUS: 158 pm
• IONIZATION ENERGY: 8.994 eV
• MELTING POINT: 594.22 K
• BOILING POINT: 1040 K
• DENSITY: 8.69 g/cm³
• ELECTRON CONFIGURATION: [Kr]5s2 4d10
• OXIDATION STATES: +2
• STANDARD STATE: Solid
• GROUP BLOCK: Transition metal
• YEAR DISCOVERED: 1817