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Information about Zirconium

40yttrium ← zirconium → niobium
Ti
↑
Zr
↓
Hf
Periodic Table - Extended Periodic Table
General
Name, Symbol, Numberzirconium, Zr, 40
Chemical seriestransition metals
Group, Period, Block4, 5, d
Appearancesilvery white
Standard atomic weight91.224(2) gmol−1
Electron configuration[Kr] 4d2 5s2
Electrons per shell2, 8, 18, 10, 2
Physical properties
Phasesolid
Density (near r.t.)6.52 gcm−3
Liquid density at m.p.5.8 gcm−3
Melting point2128 K
(1855 °C, 3371 °F)
Boiling point4682 K
(4409 °C, 7968 °F)
Heat of fusion14 kJmol−1
Heat of vaporization573 kJmol−1
Heat capacity(25 C) 25.36 Jmol−1K−1
Vapor pressure
P(Pa)1101001 k10 k100 k
at T(K)263928913197357540534678
Atomic properties
Crystal structurehexagonal
Oxidation states4
(amphoteric oxide)
Electronegativity1.33 (scale Pauling)
Ionization energies
(more)		1st: 640.1 kJmol−1
2nd: 1270 kJmol−1
3rd: 2218 kJmol−1
Atomic radius155 pm
Atomic radius (calc.)206 pm
Covalent radius148 pm
Miscellaneous
Magnetic orderingno data
Electrical resistivity(20 C) 421 n Ωm
Thermal conductivity(300 K) 22.6 Wm−1K−1
Thermal expansion(25 C) 5.7 µmm−1K−1
Speed of sound (thin rod)(20 C) 3800 m/s
Young's modulus68 GPa
Shear modulus33 GPa
Poisson ratio0.34
Mohs hardness5.0
Vickers hardness903 MPa
Brinell hardness650 MPa
CAS registry number7440-67-7
Selected isotopes
Main article: Isotopes of zirconium
iso NA half-life DM DE (MeV) DP
88Zrsyn83.4 dε-88Y
γ0.392D-
89Zrsyn78.4 hε-89Y
β+0.90289Y
γ0.909D-
90Zr51.45%Zr is stable with 50 neutrons
91Zr11.22%Zr is stable with 51 neutrons
92Zr17.15%Zr is stable with 52 neutrons
93Zrsyn1.53×106yβ−0.06093Nb
94Zr17.38%Zr is stable with 54 neutrons
96Zr2.8%2.0×1019y [1]β−β−3.34896Mo
References


Zirconium (IPA: /zəˈkəʊniəm, ˌzɛːˈkəʊniəm, zɜːɹ'kəʊniəm) is a chemical element that has the symbol Zr and has the atomic number 40. A lustrous, very corrosion resistant, gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium, zirconium is obtained mainly from the mineral zircon. Zirconium is primarily used in nuclear reactors, especially in the cladding of the fuel rods, due to its low neutron-capture cross-section and its resistance to corrosion.

Characteristics

Zirconium is a grayish-white metal, lustrous, and quite corrosion-resistant. Zirconium is lighter than steel and its hardness is similar to copper. When it is finely divided into a powder, zirconium can spontaneously ignite in air, especially at high temperatures. (It is much more difficult to ignite the solid metal.) The Zirconium-zinc alloy becomes magnetic at temperatures below 35 K. The oxidation state of zirconium is usually +4, although +3 and +2 can also be obtained in chemical compounds.

History

Zirconium (Arabic zarkûn from Persian zargûn زرگون meaning "gold like") was discovered in 1789 by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, and it was isolated in 1824 by Jöns Jakob Berzelius.

The zirconium-containing mineral zircon, or its variations (jargon, hyacinth, jacinth, or ligure), were mentioned in biblical writings. The mineral was not known to contain a new element until Klaproth analyzed a jargon from the island of Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. He named the new element Zirkonertz (zirconia). The impure metal was isolated first by Berzelius by heating a mixture of potassium and potassium-zirconium fluoride in a small decomposition process conducted in an iron tube. Pure zirconium wasn't prepared until 1914.

The crystal bar process (or Iodide process), discovered by Anton Eduard van Arkel and Jan Hendrik de Boer in 1925, was the first industrial process for the commercial production of pure metallic zirconium. It was later superseded by the Kroll process.

Occurrence

Enlarge picture
Zirconium output in 2005
Enlarge picture
World production trend of zirconium mineral concentrates
Zirconium is never found in nature as a native metal. The principal economic source of zirconium is the zirconium silicate mineral, zircon (ZrSiO4), which is found in deposits located in Australia, South Africa and the United States, as reported by the British Geological Survey. It is extracted either as a dark sooty powder, or as a gray metallic crystalline substance. Zirconium and hafnium are contained in zircon at a ratio of about 50 to 1, and they are quite difficult to separate chemically. Zircon is a co-product or by-product of the mining and processing of heavy-mineral sands for the titanium minerals, ilmenite and rutile, or from tin minerals. Zirconium also occurs in about 30 other recognized mineral species including baddeleyite. This metal is commercially produced mostly by the reduction of the zirconium(IV) chloride with magnesium metal in the Kroll process. Commercial-quality zirconium for most uses still has a content of 1% to 3% hafnium.

This element is relatively-abundant in S-type stars, and it has been detected in the sun and in meteorites. Lunar rock samples brought back from several Apollo program missions to the moon have a quite high zirconium oxide content relative to terrestrial rocks.

See also .

Isotopes

Main article: isotopes of zirconium
Naturally-occurring zirconium is composed of four stable isotopes, and one extremely long-lived radioisotope (96Zr). The second most stable radioisotope is 93Zr which has a half-life of 1.53 million years. Eighteen other radioisotopes have been observed. Most of these have half-lives that are less than a day except for 95Zr (64.02 days), 88Zr (63.4 days), and 89Zr (78.41 hours). The primary decay mode is electron capture for isotopes lighter than 92Zr, and the primary mode for heavier isotopes is beta decay.

Compounds

Some common zirconium compounds are: ZrC, ZrO2, ZrN, ZrCl4, ZrS2, ZrSi2, ZrSiO4, ZrF4, ZrBr4, ZrI4, Zr(OH)4, C10H11ClZr, Zr(CH3CH2COO)4, Zr(WO4)2, ZrH2, Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3

Precautions

Enlarge picture
Zirconium rod
Compounds containing zirconium are not noted for toxicity. The metal dust can ignite in air and should be regarded as a major fire and explosion hazard. Zirconium has no known biological role.

References

External links

Yttrium (IPA: /ɪˈtriəm/)[1], is a chemical element that has the symbol Y and atomic number 39.
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Niobium (IPA: /niˈəʊbiəm, ˌnʌɪˈəʊbiəm/), or columbium (IPA: /kəˈlʌmbiəm/
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Titanium (IPA: /tʌɪˈteɪniəm/) is a chemical element; in the periodic table it has the symbol Ti and atomic number 22.
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Hafnium (IPA: /ˈhæfniəm/) is a chemical element that has the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray tetravalent transition metal, hafnium resembles zirconium chemically and it is found in
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<onlyinclude> This is a list of chemical elements, sorted by name and color coded according to type of element.

Given is each element's element symbol, atomic number, atomic mass or most stable isotope, and group and period numbers on the periodic table.
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<onlyinclude> This is a list of chemical elements by symbol, including the current signification used to identify the chemical elements as recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, as well as proposed and historical signs.
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A table of chemical elements ordered by atomic number and color coded according to type of element. Given is each element's name, element symbol, group and period, Chemical series, and atomic mass (or most stable isotope).
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A group, also known as a family, is a vertical column in the periodic table of the chemical elements. There are 18 groups in the standard periodic table.

The modern explanation of the pattern of the periodic table is that the elements in a group have similar
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In chemistry, the term transition metal (sometimes also called a transition element) has two possible meanings:
  • It commonly refers to any element in the d-block of the periodic table, including zinc, cadmium and mercury.

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A group, also known as a family, is a vertical column in the periodic table of the chemical elements. There are 18 groups in the standard periodic table.

The modern explanation of the pattern of the periodic table is that the elements in a group have similar
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Periods:]] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Series Alkalis Alkaline earths Lanthanides Actinides Transition metals Poor metals Metalloids Nonmetals Halogens Noble gases
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A block of the periodic table of elements is a set of adjacent groups. The respective highest-energy electrons in each element in a block belong to the same atomic orbital type.
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    Ti)
  • zirconium (Zr)
  • hafnium (Hf)
  • rutherfordium (Rf).
This group lies in the d-block of the periodic table. The group itself has not acquired a trivial name; it belongs to the broader grouping of the transition metals.
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A period 5 element is one of the chemical elements in the fifth row (or period) of the periodic table of the elements.

These are: Chemical elements in the fifth period
Group 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
#
Name 37
Rb 38
Sr 39
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D-Block is an American rap group founded in the 1990s by Sheek Louch, Jadakiss and Styles P as The Lox or The L.O.X.. [1] In 2001 the group renamed themselves from "The Lox" to "D-Block".
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Color or colour[1] (see spelling differences) is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue, black, etc.
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atomic mass (ma) is the mass of an atom at rest, most often expressed in unified atomic mass units.[1] The atomic mass may be considered to be the total mass of protons, neutrons and electrons in a single atom (when the atom is motionless).
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To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various mass levels between 10−36 kg and 1053 kg.

Factor (kg) Value Item
10−36 1.
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This is a list of chemical elements, sorted by relative atomic mass, or more precisely the standard atomic weights, (most stable isotope for artificial elements) and color coded according to type of element.
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electron configuration is the arrangement of electrons in an atom, molecule, or other physical structure (e.g., a crystal). Like other elementary particles, the electron is subject to the laws of quantum mechanics, and exhibits both particle-like and wave-like nature.
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"An Essential Hybrid Reasoning System: Knowledge and Symbol Level Accounts of KRYPTON", R.J. Brachman et al, Proc IJCAI-85, 1985 [1] .
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Electron

Theoretical estimates of the electron density for the first few hydrogen atom electron orbitals shown as cross-sections with color-coded probability density
Composition: Elementary particle
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Group: Lepton
Generation: First
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An electron shell, also known as a main energy level, is a group of atomic orbitals with the same value of the principal quantum number n. Electron shells are made up of one or more electron subshells, or sublevels
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In the physical sciences, a phase is a set of states of a macroscopic physical system that have relatively uniform chemical composition and physical properties (i.e. density, crystal structure, index of refraction, and so forth).
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A solid object is in the states of matter characterized by resistance to deformation and changes of volume. At the microscopic scale, a solid has these properties :
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In physics, density is mass m per unit volume V—how heavy something is compared to its size. A small, heavy object, such as a rock or a lump of lead, is denser than a lighter object of the same size or a larger object of the same weight, such as pieces of
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Room temperature (also referred to as ambient temperature) is a common term to denote a certain temperature within enclosed space at which human beings are accustomed.
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In physics, density is mass m per unit volume V—how heavy something is compared to its size. A small, heavy object, such as a rock or a lump of lead, is denser than a lighter object of the same size or a larger object of the same weight, such as pieces of
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The melting point of a crystalline solid is the temperature range at which it changes state from solid to liquid. Although the phrase would suggest a specific temperature and is commonly and incorrectly used as such in most textbooks and literature, most crystalline compounds
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