Cadmium

Allie L

Mr. Cadmium 48 Transition Lane Periodic Table, Mendeleev [Kr] 5s2 4d10 Atomic Number: 48 Atomic Mass: 112.41

Objective I want to be in nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries. Therefore, I am looking for a job in a nickel-cadmium battery. My ideal position would be the co-president of a cell phone battery. Friedrich Stromeyer discovered me in 1817. He found me as an impurity in zinc carbonate. Stronmeyer discovered me by isolating fragments of the bluish-white metal. I was named after the Latin word for calamine, sine I was found in this zinc compound. Germany was the only producer of me for 100 years, until the 1930s and 1940s when the United States used me in the coatings of steel and copper alloys to prevent corrosion. In the 1970s and 1980s, I was used as a stabilizer in plastic. By 2006, most of my uses were in nickel-cadmium batteries, therefore causing my other uses to decrease.

Honors and Awards I am known for my use in batteries, mainly in rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. I am also used in pigments, stablilizers, coatings, alloys, and electronic compounds, like cadmium telluride. I am also present as an impurity in iron, steel, fossil fuels, cement, phosphate fertilizers, and non-ferrous metals, like zinc, lead, and copper. I am extremely valuable to humans because the batteries that I am used in are essential to consumer electronics like cordless power tools, cell phones, camcorders, portable computers, portable household appliances, and toys. I am also used as bright yellow to deep red pigments in plastics, ceramics, glasses, enamels, and artist colors, because these pigments are able to withstand high temperatures and high pressures without fading. I am also valuable to humans because cadmium coatings are used on steel and aluminum to prevent corrosion.

Experience and Skills I am a soft, malleable, ductile, toxic, bluish-white, bivalent metal that can form many complex compounds. I am excellent at bonding with nickel when it comes to nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries. I am also excellent at bonding with oxygen to make cadmium oxide and great at bonding with chlorine to make cadmium chloride.

References An excellent reference for me is Nickel, because I have bonded with him in the past to create many nickel-cadmium batteries. Another reference would be Aluminum, because I have worked with him, by protecting him from corrosion. The final reference would be Zinc, because we share similar qualities.

Citations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium http://www.cadmium.org/ http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/ElementWebSites/cadmium/hist.htm