Wikijunior:The Elements/Tellurium


Shows the position of Tellurium on the periodic chart.
Tellurium's symbol on the Periodic Table

What does it look, feel, taste, or smell like?

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Ultra pure tellurium crystal

Tellurium is a silver-white metalloid. Tellurium compounds generally smell awful. If a human being is exposed to tellurium, even in very small amounts — keeping in mind, tellurium is toxic, so people shouldn't be exposed to it, even in very small amounts — their body metabolizes it so that their breath then smells so horrible that, reportedly, lab workers exposed to tellurium had to be given a leave of absence till it worked out of their system.

How was it discovered?

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Where did its name come from?

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The name "tellurium" comes from the Latin word tellus meaning "earth".

Where is it found?

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Did You Know?

  • Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur.
  • Tellurium was discovered in the 18th century in a gold ore from the mines in Romania.
  • Tellurium has two allotropes, crystalline and amorphous.

What are its uses?

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Is it dangerous?

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Yes. Tellurium is mildly toxic, so people should be very careful when handling it.

References

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