Barium

Barium is a soft, very reactive metallic element and is the fifth element in Group 2 of the periodic table i.e. alkaline earth elements. Barium, when pure, is silvery white like lead. The metal oxidises very easily and it reacts with water or alcohol. Barium salts impart Apple-green colour to flames. Metallic barium is very reactive with air and water, and serves in vacuum tubes and pipes to remove unwanted gases, suppressing high pressures and preventing blowouts. The element is used in metallurgy, and its compounds are used in pyrotechnics, petroleum production, and radiology.
Barium is eighteenth in abundance in the Earth's crust, where it is found to the extent of 0.04%, making it intermediate in amount between calcium and strontium, the other alkaline-earth metals.
Category:Element