| Thallium
|
| Name | Thallium
|
| Symbol | Tl
|
| Atomic number | 81
|
| Atomic mass | 204.3833 amu
|
| Normal state
| Solid
|
| Classification
| Metals
|
| Crystal structure
| Hexagonal
|
| Color
| Silvery-White
|
| Date of discovery
| 1861
|
| Name of discoverer
| Sir William Crookes
|
| Name origin
| From the Greek thallos, meaning a young shoot or green twig, due to the bright green line in its spectrum.
|
| Uses
| Originally, its compounds were used in rat and ant poisons, but has been prohibited since 1975 in many countries. Also used for detecting infrared radiation and in heart muscle research.
|
| Obtained from
| It is generally obtained as the by-product of zinc and lead smelting. Also found in iron pyrites, crookesite, hutchinsonite and lorandite.
|
