| Description |
Brittle metal, silvery luster with pink tinge. Stable to oxygen and water. Dissolves in concentrated nitric acid. Basic oxide. Used in alloys, pharmaceuticals, electronics, catalysts, cosmetics, and pigments. The radioactive isotope, Bi210, is found as a daughter product of Pb210 from Th in thorium minerals. Diagnostic tests:
On charcoal alone, or better with soda (Na2CO3), bismuth gives a very characteristic orange-yellow sublimate; brittle globules of the reduced mental are also obtained (with soda). When mixed with potassium iodide and sulfur and fused on charcoal, a beautiful red sublimate of BiI3 is obtained, yellow near the assay.
In solution, bismuth is precipitated as white Ba(OH)3 by the addition of excess amounts of NH4OH.
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