That surprise appearance on the breakfast table reflects another important side to zinc. We need it to stay healthy. It's one of the trace elements, nutrients that our bodies need in small quantities to keep functioning. It's often present in vitamin supplements, though most of us get plenty from meat and eggs. The zinc ends up in various proteins, particularly in enzymes involved in the development of the body, digestion and fertility. A shortage of zinc in the diet can lead to delayed healing, skin irritation and loss of the sense of taste, and encourages many chronic illnesses.
With zinc also appearing in anti-dandruff shampoos in the form of zinc pyrithione and in underarm deodorants as zinc chloride, this is an element that even makes us more attractive to the opposite sex. Zinc is a hidden star. We're rarely aware of it, unlike its flashier neighbours in the period table, but zinc is a workhorse element that helps us all.
Bristolbased science writer Brian Clegg with the onomatopoeic element, zinc. Next week, what's lurking in your basement. The first reports of problems associated with radon gas in domestic buildings was in the United States in , when an employee at a nuclear power plant began setting off the radiation detector alarms on his way into work. The problem was eventually traced to his home, where the level of radon gas in the basement was found to be abnormally high.
But where was it coming from and what was the risk to his health. Katherine Holt will be here with all of the answers and the rest of the Radon story on next week's Chemistry in its Element, I do hope you can join us.
I'm Chris Smith, thank you for listening, and goodbye. Chemistry in its element is brought to you by the Royal Society of Chemistry and produced by thenakedscientists.
There's more information and other episodes of Chemistry in its element on our website at chemistryworld. Click here to view videos about Zinc. View videos about. Help Text. Learn Chemistry : Your single route to hundreds of free-to-access chemistry teaching resources.
We hope that you enjoy your visit to this Site. We welcome your feedback. Data W. Haynes, ed. Version 1. Coursey, D. Schwab, J. Tsai, and R. Dragoset, Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions version 4.
Periodic Table of Videos , accessed December Podcasts Produced by The Naked Scientists. Download our free Periodic Table app for mobile phones and tablets. Explore all elements. D Dysprosium Dubnium Darmstadtium. E Europium Erbium Einsteinium. F Fluorine Francium Fermium Flerovium. G Gallium Germanium Gadolinium Gold. I Iron Indium Iodine Iridium. K Krypton. O Oxygen Osmium Oganesson. U Uranium. V Vanadium. X Xenon. Y Yttrium Ytterbium. Z Zinc Zirconium.
Membership Become a member Connect with others Supporting individuals Supporting organisations Manage my membership. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube. Discovery date. Identified as an element in , but known to the Greeks and Romans before 20BC. Discovered by. Andreas Marggraf. Origin of the name.
The name is derived from the German, 'zinc', which may in turn be derived from the Persian word 'sing', meaning stone. Melting point. Boiling point. Atomic number. Relative atomic mass. Key isotopes. Electron configuration. CAS number. ChemSpider ID. ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database.
Electronegativity Pauling scale. Zinc deficiency has relatively little effect on the health of a plant, but it interferes with reproduction. Pea plants deprived of zinc, for example, will form flowers. But the flowers will not turn to seeds. In humans, zinc deficiencies are more serious. Zinc is used to build molecules of DNA. DNA is the chemical in our body that tells cells what chemicals they should make.
It directs the reproduction of humans also. Fetuses babies that have not yet been born deprived of zinc may grow up to have mental or physical problems. Young children who do not get enough zinc in their diet may experience loss of hair and skin lesions.
They may also experience retarded growth called dwarfism. Chemists have now found that zinc plays an essential role in the manufacture of many important chemicals in the human body. Zinc is an essential micronutrient for humans.
But too much or too little can cause health problems. On the other hand, an excess of zinc can cause health problems, too.
Breathing zinc dust may cause dryness in the throat, coughing, general weakness and aching, chills, fever, nausea, and vomiting. One sign of zinc poisoning is a sweet taste in the mouth that cannot be associated with eating sweet foods. Certain compounds of zinc can be harmful to health also. Zinc chloride ZnCl 2 , for example, can cause skin rashes and sore throat. Toggle navigation.
Photo by: Feng Yu. Discovery and naming Some metals can be obtained from their ores easily. Physical properties Zinc is a bluish-white metal with a shiny surface. Chemical properties Zinc is a fairly active element. Occurrence in nature The abundance of zinc in the Earth's crust is estimated to be about 0. Isotopes Five naturally occurring isotopes of zinc are known. Extraction As with many metals, pure zinc can be prepared from an ore by one of two methods.
The carbon takes the oxygen away from the zinc, leaving the pure metal behind: The other method is to pass an electric current through a compound of zinc.
Compounds A number of zinc compounds have important uses. Some examples are the following: Zinc deficiency can interfere with a plant's ability to reproduce. Zinc alloys are used in the production of electrical fuses. Health effects Zinc is an essential micronutrient for plants, humans, and animals. Other articles you might like:. User Contributions: 1.
PArshuram naykodi. It is nice information related to zinc , Can you tell me which metal will be not corrosive in zinc solution..
At what temp zinc get vaporized? During leaded brass manufacture how it is added? Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: Name:. E-mail: Show my email publicly.
Human Verification:. Public Comment: characters. Send comment. Zinc "might even be working as a master switch to tell the cell when to divide," study co-author Thomas O'Halloran, a chemist at Northwestern University in Chicago, told Live Science. Cells typically concentrate zinc until there are about as many zinc atoms in the cell as there are base pairs in the organisms' genome, O'Halloran said.
But some cells concentrate more than that. In its last hours before full maturation, the egg cell starts taking in zinc, O'Halloran and his colleagues have found, going from about 40 billion zinc atoms to about 60 billion. About 15 percent of the total zinc ends up in vesicles, little packets squirreled away right under the cell's surface. When the sperm and egg meet, these packets get ejected. It's possible that the zinc release creates a barrier against the entry of more than one sperm, which would be fatal to the developing embryo.
But that's yet to be proven, said study co-author Teresa Woodruff, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and fertility preservation at Northwestern University. The zinc fireworks could have real-world applications for women dealing with infertility, Woodruff told Live Science. The zinc "sparks" could potentially hint at the egg's vitality, allowing doctors to choose the best fertilized eggs for implantation in the uterus. Cells in the brain, particularly the memory region known as the hippocampus, also hoard zinc, as do insulin-releasing cells in the pancreas, O'Halloran added.
Zinc oxide is used in paints, some rubber products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, plastics, printing inks, soap and batteries, among other things.
Zinc sulfide ZnS , another zinc compound, glows when it is exposed to ultraviolet light, X-rays or electrons and is used to make luminous watch dials, television screens and fluorescent light bulbs. Zinc chloride ZnCl 2 is another zinc compound that is used to protect wood from decay and insects. Estimated Crustal Abundance : 7.
Estimated Oceanic Abundance : 4. Number of Stable Isotopes : 3 View all isotope data. Electron Shell Configuration :.
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