Bismuth is a metal in period 6 of the nitrogen group (Group VA) and is a metal. It may have oxidation numbers of -3, +3, and +5 in its compounds. Other members of Group VA are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), and antimony (Sb).
The name is derived from German Weisse Masse or "white mass", which later became Wismuth and Bisemuthum. and eventually bismuth.
Bismuth has the greatest atomic weight of any element that is not naturally radioactive.
It is a white, crystalline, brittle metal with a pinkish tinge.
Bismuth can occur in nature in the elemental form and was recognized as a metal by early observers, including Agricola, in the 1500s. However, it was thought to be a kind of tin or lead until Claude Geoffroy the Younger showed it to be distinct from lead in 1753.
The most important ores, bismuthinite or bismuth glance (Bi2 S3) and bismite (Bi2 O3), are found in South America, but most of the bismuth produced in the U.S. is obtained as a by-product in refining lead, copper, tin, silver, and gold ores.
Bismuth is the most diamagnetic of all metals, and its thermal conductivity is lower than any metal, except mercury. It has a high electrical resistance, and has the highest Hall effect of any metal (i.e., greatest increase in electrical resistance when placed in a magnetic field).
When bismuth is heated in air it burns with a blue flame forming yellow fumes of the oxide.
4 Bi(s) + 3 O2 (g) 2 Bi2 O3 (s)
It reacts with acids, but not with cold water.
Bismuth expands 3.32% on solidification. This property makes bismuth alloys particularly suited to the making of sharp castings of objects subject to damage by high temperatures. With other metals, such as tin, cadmium, etc., bismuth forms low- melting alloys, such as Wood's metal, that are extensively used for electrical fuses and safety devices used in fire detection and extinguishing systems, for example in fire sprinkler heads. The metal is also used as a thermocouple material, and has been used as a carrier for 235U or 233U fuel in atomic reactors.
Its soluble salts are characterized by forming insoluble basic salts on the addition of water,
Bi3+ (aq) + H2O + Cl- (aq) BiOCl(s) + 2 H+(aq)
a property sometimes used to detect the element. Bismuth compounds that dissolve in water are poisonous, but some insoluble compounds are used in medicine for the treatment of gastric disorders and skin injuries. Bismuth is also present, as BiOCl, in some kinds of fingernail polish.