Although emeralds and beryl were known to ancient civilizations, they were first recognized as the same mineral by Abbe Hauy in 1798. Later that year, Louis-Nicholas Vauquelin, a French chemist, discovered that an unknown element was present in emeralds and beryl. Attempts to isolate the new element finally succeeded in 1828 when two chemists, Friedrich Wolhler of Germany and A. Bussy of France, independently produced beryllium by reducing beryllium chloride (BeCl2) with potassium in a platinum crucible. Today, beryllium is primarily obtained from the minerals beryl and extradite through a chemical process or through the electrolysis of a mixture of molten beryllium chloride and sodium chloride(http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/ ).
             Beryllium's atomic number is 4 and it 's element symbol is Be. The color of it is steel gray. It's atomic weight is 9.012182. The melting point is 1560 K. It's boiling point is 2744 K. The density of it is 1.85 grams per cubic centimeter. It's phase at room temperature is solid and it's element classification is a metal. Both it's period and group number is 2.The name of the group that it belongs to is the alkaline earth metals. Beryllium comes from the Greek word beryl which is a type of mineral. It is pronounced as beh-ril-I-em(http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/ ).
             It is relatively transparent to X-rays and is used to make windows for X-ray tubes. When exposed to alpha particles, such as those emitted by radium or polonium, beryllium emits neutrons and is used as a neutron source. Beryllium is also used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.
             This element is alloyed with copper (2% beryllium, 98% copper) to form a wear resistant material, known as beryllium bronze, used in gyroscopes and other devices where wear resistance is important. Beryllium is alloyed with nickel (2% beryllium, 98% nickel) to make springs, spot-welding electrodes and non-sparking tools. Other be...