• Question: What is Bismuth?

    Asked by Cookie@cream321 to Ellen, Elliot, Hazel, Rupesh, Thomas on 21 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Elliot Jokl

      Elliot Jokl answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      Hello!

      Turns out the team behind this project have done this job for us. If you go the the ‘zone home’, and look under ‘about this zone’ there is a little description:

      “Bismuth is represented by the symbol Bi and the atomic number 83. It was one of the first 10 metals to be discovered and has been known about since very ancient times, although it wasn’t named until about 1660. What took them so long?

      Today, bismuth is used in cosmetics like lipsticks and nail varnish as it has a pearlescent (super shiny) finish, and can also be found in fire detection systems as it has such a low melting point. Interestingly, just like water, bismuth is more dense as a liquid than as a solid. This means bismuth icebergs would float… on a bismuth sea, of course.”

    • Photo: Thomas Biggans

      Thomas Biggans answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      Just as a little add on,

      We sometimes use bismuth in medical physics as a shield for areas of the patient during a CT scan to protect those areas from the x-ray radiation but still get a picture of the anatomy around that area.

    • Photo: Rupesh Paudyal

      Rupesh Paudyal answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      It is an element that you find on the periodic table of elements. Check it out during your chemistry lesson.

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