Tellurium

52

Te

127.60(3)

  • Name: Tellurium
  • Symbol: Te
  • Atomic number: 52
  • Atomic weight: 127.60(3)
  • CAS Registry ID: 13494-80-9
  • Group name: Chalcogen
  • Period number: 5
  • Block: p-block
  • Switch:
  • Compare Element

Description

Tellurium is a metalloid with a shiny sliver grey color in its natural solid state. Tellurium is one of the rarest element on earth, and it is a brittle metal that has semi-conductive traits. Tellurium has an atomic weight of 127.60, a melting point of 841.12 °F, and a boiling point of 1810 °F. Tellurium metal is commonly used in alloys to strengthen lead and increase the workability of stainless steel and copper; it is also used in ceramics, and as a semiconductor.

enlarge image


Isolation

As a rare substance, tellurium is usually only isolated on a commercial basis. The isolation process used depends on which compounds are present with the tellurium.

enlarge image

Tellurium does exist in nature in its free form, but it is very rarely found this way. Most tellurium in nature occurs in nature and gold tellurides such as calaverite, krennerite, petzite, and sylvanite. Additional sources of tellurium can be used for isolation. One isolation process uses treatment of copper ore; this treatment process using electrolytic refining of copper forms anode sludges of tellurium. Tellurium can also be collected and isolated from dust that is emitted from the process of refining lead using a blast furnace.

Another isolation method which extracts tellurium from copper uses a multi-step chemical reaction process. The first step of the isolation process is to oxidize the tellurium-copper complex using sodium carbonate and oxygen to produce tellurite. The tellurite is then acidified with sulphuric acid to precipitate out of the solution in its dioxide form. The tellurium dioxide is then dissolved in sodium hydroxide, and electrolytic reduction is used to produce pure tellurium.


General
Name Tellurium
Symbol Te
Number 52
Chemical series metalloids
Group 16
Period 5
Block p
Appearance silvery lustrous gray
Standard atomic weight 127.60(3)  g·mol−1
Electron configuration [Kr] 5s2 4d10 5p4
Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 18, 6
Atomic properties
Crystal structure hexagonal
Oxidation states ±2, 4, 6 (mildly acidic oxide)
Electronegativity 2.1 (scale Pauling)
Ionization energies 1st:  869.3  kJ·mol−1
(more) 2nd:  1790  kJ·mol−1
(more) 3rd:  2698  kJ·mol−1
Atomic radius 140 pm
Atomic radius (calc.) 123 pm
Covalent radius 135 pm
Van der Waals radius 206 pm
Physical properties
Phase solid
Density (near r.t.) 6.24  g·cm−3
Liquid density at m.p. 5.70  g·cm−3
Melting point 722.66 K (449.51 °C, 841.12 °F)
Boiling point 1261 K (988 °C, 1810 °F)
Critical point
Heat of fusion 17.49  kJ·mol−1
Heat of vaporization 114.1  kJ·mol−1
Heat capacity (25 °C) 25.73  J·mol−1·K−1
Miscellaneous
Magnetic ordering nonmagnetic
Electrical resistivity
Thermal conductivity (300 K) (1.97–3.38)  W·m−1·K−1
Thermal expansion
Speed of sound (thin rod) (20 °C) 2610 m/s
Young's modulus 43 GPa
Shear modulus 16 GPa
Bulk modulus 65 GPa
Poisson ratio
Mohs hardness 2.25
Vickers hardness
Brinell hardness 180 MPa
CAS registry number 13494-80-9

Print this page Bookmark this page

Hide/View all projects Hide all projects Hide/View all projects

All Projects List

  • Accelerate Rusting
  • Acids And Bases
  • Additive Colors
  • Ant Microphotography
  • Apple Mummy
  • Balloon Rocket Car
  • Barney Banana
  • Bending Water
  • Bernoulli’s Principle
  • Blind Spot in Vision
  • Boiling Point of Water
  • Build an Electromagnet
  • Build an Inclinometer
  • Caffeine And Typing
  • Candle Race
  • Candy Molecules
  • Capillarity of Soils
  • Carbon in the Atmosphere
  • Checking vs. Savings
  • Chemical Metamorphosis
  • Clean Cleaners
  • Cleaning Oil Spills
  • Climbing Colors
  • Cloud Cover
  • CO2 & Photosynthesis
  • Collecting DNA
  • Colorful Celery
  • Coloring Matter in Food
  • Colors And Temperature
  • Composition of a Shell
  • Computer Passwords
  • Construct a Lung Model
  • Corrosiveness of Soda
  • Create a Heat Detector
  • Create Lightening
  • Cultivate Slime Molds
  • Cup of Lava
  • Dehydrated Potato
  • Desalinate Sea Water
  • Detergents and Plants
  • Dissolving in Liquids
  • Dissolving Solutes
  • Distillation of Water
  • Double Color Flower
  • Egg in a Bottle
  • Enzyme Activity
  • Eroding Away
  • Erosion Simulator
  • Evaportating Liquids
  • Expanding Soap
  • Exploding Ziploc
  • Extracting Starch
  • Fans And Body Temp
  • Fertilizer & Plants
  • Filtration of Water
  • Floating Ball Experiment
  • Floating Balloon
  • Fog Formation
  • Font and Memory
  • Food and Academics
  • Friction And Vibration
  • Fruit Battery Power
  • Full and Low Fat Foods
  • Galileo's Experiment
  • Gas To Liquid
  • Grape Juice & Cleaners
  • Gravity and Plants
  • Green Slime
  • Growing a Crystal
  • Growing Bread Mold
  • Growing Population
  • Haemoglobin Binding
  • Hard vs. Soft Water
  • Homemade Floam
  • Home-made Geodes
  • Home-Made Glue #1
  • Homemade Snowflakes
  • Home-made Stethoscope
  • Homemade Volcano
  • Homemade Windmill
  • Human Battery Power
  • Inertia of an Egg
  • Information and CD’s
  • Invisible Ink
  • Isolation of Bread Mold
  • Isolation of DNA
  • Jar Compass
  • Lemon Floaties
  • Levers And Force
  • Lift an Ice Cube
  • Light Colors and Plants
  • Long Lasting Bubbles
  • Magic Balloons
  • Magnified Light
  • Make a Compost Pile
  • Make a Fuse Model
  • Make a Parallel Circuit
  • Make An Elevator
  • Make Electric Circuits
  • Make Limestone
  • Make Objects Float
  • Make Static Electricity
  • Make your own sundial
  • Matchbox Guitar
  • Math and Gender
  • Mean, Median and Range
  • Measuring Air Pollution
  • Mentos Soda Volcano
  • Microbial Contaminants
  • Milky Plastic
  • Mini Greenhouse
  • Missing Reflection
  • Mixing With Water
  • Molls Experiment
  • Music and Plants
  • Musical Bottles
  • Nocturnal Plants
  • Ocean Life & Oil Spills
  • Ocean Temperature
  • Optical Mice
  • Oral Bacteria
  • Orange Water Volume
  • Organic vs. Inorganic
  • Osmosis
  • Oven Baked Ice Cream
  • Oxygen & Photosynthesis
  • Paper Bridge
  • Paper Marbling
  • Pascal’s Law
  • Play-Doh and Volume
  • Preserve Spider Webs
  • Pressure Volcano
  • Pulse Rates
  • Pythagorean Tuning
  • Refraction in Water
  • Rollercoasters & Loops
  • Rubber Bones
  • Rubber Heat Reaction
  • Rubbery Egg
  • Rust and Moisture
  • Search Engines
  • Secondary Colors
  • Seed Germination
  • Seed Germination II
  • Separate Salt And Pepper
  • Snappy Sounds
  • Soil Erosion
  • Soil vs. Hydroponics
  • Sound Waves
  • Spectrum through Water
  • Speed of Decomposition
  • Speed of Dissolving
  • Spore Prints
  • Star Observer
  • Static Electricity
  • Statistics and M&M’s
  • Stem-less Flowers
  • Super Strength Egg
  • Sweet Erosion
  • Temperature and CPUs
  • Thirsty Rocks
  • Tornado Demonstration
  • Translucent Egg
  • Transpiration in Plants
  • Typing and Speed
  • Vibrating Coin
  • Volcanic Gas
  • Water and Living Things
  • Water Displacement
  • Water Evaporation
  • Water pH
  • Your Planetary Age