Although neither zinc nor zirconium is ferromagnetic, their alloy, ZrZnĢ, exhibits ferromagnetism below 35 K. Other metals long known to form binary alloys with zinc are aluminium, antimony, bismuth, gold, iron, lead, mercury, silver, tin, magnesium, cobalt, nickel, tellurium, and sodium. Many alloys contain zinc, including brass. The melting point is the lowest of all the d-block metals aside from mercury and cadmium for this reason among others, zinc, cadmium, and mercury are often not considered to be transition metals like the rest of the d-block metals. For a metal, zinc has relatively low melting (419.5 ☌) and boiling point (907 ☌). Above 210 ☌, the metal becomes brittle again and can be pulverized by beating. The metal is hard and brittle at most temperatures but becomes malleable between 100 and 150 ☌. It is somewhat less dense than iron and has a hexagonal crystal structure, with a distorted form of hexagonal close packing, in which each atom has six nearest neighbors (at 265.9 pm) in its own plane and six others at a greater distance of 290.6 pm. Zinc is a bluish-white, lustrous, diamagnetic metal, though most common commercial grades of the metal have a dull finish. A variety of zinc compounds are commonly used, such as zinc carbonate and zinc gluconate (as dietary supplements), zinc chloride (in deodorants), zinc pyrithione (anti- dandruff shampoos), zinc sulfide (in luminescent paints), and dimethylzinc or diethylzinc in the organic laboratory.Ĭharacteristics Physical properties Other applications are in electrical batteries, small non-structural castings, and alloys such as brass. Corrosion-resistant zinc plating of iron ( hot-dip galvanizing) is the major application for zinc. Work by Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta uncovered the electrochemical properties of zinc by 1800. German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf is credited with discovering pure metallic zinc in 1746. The element was probably named by the alchemist Paracelsus after the German word Zinke (prong, tooth). Alchemists burned zinc in air to form what they called ' philosopher's wool' or 'white snow'.

To date, the oldest evidence of pure zinc comes from Zawar, in Rajasthan, as early as the 9th century AD when a distillation process was employed to make pure zinc. The mines of Rajasthan have given definite evidence of zinc production going back to the 6th century BC. Zinc metal was not produced on a large scale until the 12th century in India, though it was known to the ancient Romans and Greeks. In the second millennium BC it was used in the regions currently including West India, Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Israel. īrass, an alloy of copper and zinc in various proportions, was used as early as the third millennium BC in the Aegean area and the region which currently includes Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kalmykia, Turkmenistan and Georgia. In marine biomes, notably within polar regions, a deficit of zinc can compromise the vitality of primary algal communities, potentially destabilizing the intricate marine trophic structures and consequently impacting biodiversity. Consumption of excess zinc may cause ataxia, lethargy, and copper deficiency. Enzymes with a zinc atom in the reactive center are widespread in biochemistry, such as alcohol dehydrogenase in humans.

In children, deficiency causes growth retardation, delayed sexual maturation, infection susceptibility, and diarrhea. Zinc deficiency affects about two billion people in the developing world and is associated with many diseases. Zinc is also an essential nutrient element for coral growth as it is an important cofactor for many enzymes. It is the second most abundant trace metal in humans after iron and it is the only metal which appears in all enzyme classes. Zinc is an essential trace element for humans, animals, plants and for microorganisms and is necessary for prenatal and postnatal development. Zinc is refined by froth flotation of the ore, roasting, and final extraction using electricity ( electrowinning). The largest workable lodes are in Australia, Asia, and the United States. The most common zinc ore is sphalerite (zinc blende), a zinc sulfide mineral. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in Earth's crust and has five stable isotopes. In some respects, zinc is chemically similar to magnesium: both elements exhibit only one normal oxidation state (+2), and the Zn 2+ and Mg 2+ ions are of similar size. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic table. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. Zinc is a chemical element it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30.

Charge of element definition