Vannoccio Biringuccio, The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio, translated by Cyril Stanley Smith and Martha Teach Gnudi, (1990) p.Density: 6.685 grams per cubic centimeter.Here are a few important facts about antimony. Antimony is also important in glass processing and pigment production, and it has been used since the 1950s as a dopant for semiconductors. Non-metallurgical uses for antimony are in flame-retardants for children's clothing, toys, aircraft and automobile seat covers. In lead–acid batteries it improves lead plate strength and charging properties. It is used in antifriction bushings (such as Babbitt metal), pewter, lead shot/bullets, solder and electrical-cable sheathing to name a few. In fact, lead is almost always alloyed with antimony to some extent. Antimony’s periodic element symbol of Sb is derived from stibnite, a common compound of antimony and sulfur.Īntimony’s most valuable metallurgical use is as an alloying agent of lead, to which it imparts increased hardness and yield strength. It is typically combined with sulfur or with heavier metals such as copper, lead and silver. Antimony is a chemical element that can be found on the periodic table as the atomic symbol Sb. It is so named because antimony is seldom found in its elemental form. The name antimony is derived from two Greek words: “anti” (not) and “monos” (alone). He notes that upon heating the antimony sulfide it produces a substance that "although this is very white and almost more shining than silver, it is much more brittle than glass." This is a clear description of the element antimony. In 1540, Biringuccio wrote a paper titled "Concerning Antimony and Its Ore," in which he describes antimony sulfide (stibnite) for the first time. The document also explains the mining and refining of brass, silver, gold and many other metals. He published “De la Pirotechnia,” the first printed record of proper foundry practice. He was an influential figure considered by many to be the father of the foundry industry. Italian metallurgist Vannoccio Biringuccio was the first to identify antimony. Today, antimony is used in many commercial and consumer products, including paint, batteries, bullets, clothing, glass, children's toys and plastic bottles. Compounds of antimony have been known since ancient times, and powdered versions were used in medicine as a laxative and for use in cosmetics (i.e., ancient eyeliner, known as khol). As such, antimony is a weak conductor of heat and electricity. Metalloids have properties of both metals and nonmetals and are electrical semiconductors. Antimony is a brittle, bright, shiny metalloid.
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