In this informative article we are going to describe the most important uses of barium for humanity. This is one of the chemical elements with the greatest presence in the industry and over time it has been given different applications. For this reason, we invite you to pay attention to all the details that we have prepared.
What is the barium used for?
Barium has numerous applications, including fireworks, poisons, glass construction, among others. But before analyzing all its uses, it is important that you know a little about its characteristics. Barium consists of a chemical element belonging to the periodic table that is symbolized by the initials Ba.
It corresponds to the group of metals, specifically being a metal alkaline earth, and has the atomic number 56, it is worth mentioning that this element can be extracted from the mineral barite. Over the years, scientists have given it different types of uses.
Below we describe the barium uses more frequent and relevant for society.
Uses of barium in oil wells
The barium oxide, which is also known as barite, is a very dense compound. Consequently, it is resorted to as mud in the well drilling tankers Worldwide. Its function is to increase the density of the drilling mud.
As metallic barium
The metallic barium It is the one with the fewest practical applications, but it is still used. For example, it is very effective for coating electric conductors in electronic devices. It is also ideal for automotive ignition systems.
As barium nitrate in fireworks
The barium nitrate It is used in the manufacture of fireworks thanks to its explosive characteristics. As with other elements of group A, fireworks is one of its main applications.
like rat poison
The barium carbonate It is an effective compound in the industry for the production of rat poisons. Once these animals ingest the substance, they die after a short time.
As barium sulfate
It resorts to barium sulfate together with lignin in the construction of negative electrodes. It acts as an expander, being very common in the manufacture of lead-acid batteries.
Uses of barium in X-ray rooms
The barium sulfate It is opaque to X-rays, making it an excellent coating in X-ray rooms. In the same way, it can be diluted in water, forming a radiological contrast that is useful when examining structures by X-rays.
Uses of barium in the manufacture of lenses
The glass lenses built with high quality contain barium oxide. In fact, it is an essential element in the manufacture of optical instruments that require high precision.
Other uses of barium
In its pure form, it is very effective in eliminating electronic valve oxygen. At other times, it is used as white pigment in paints and in the production of green flames. On the other hand, you have to be careful with barium derivatives, because some are dangerous.
For example, sulfur is harmless, while carbonate is extremely toxic and could even lead to death. For this reason, it should only be handled by scientific professionals.