Barium

Barium is most commonly found as the mineral barite (BaSO4) and witherite (BaCO3) and is primarily produced through the electrolysis of barium chloride (BaCl2). Finally, you can use barium in making rubber and creating rat poison. ” All barium compounds are poisonous, but barium sulfate can be safetly ingested since it doesn’t dissolve in water.

It is also a good absorber of X-rays and, when swallowed, can be used to produce X-ray images of the intestinal tract. ever found free in nature since it reacts with oxygen in the air (which forms (BaO)), water which forms (Ba(OH)2)), and hydrogen gas (which forms (H2)). The element can combine and mix with many other elements including sulfate, zinc oxide, carbon, nitrate, chloride, peroxide, and titanate. “Stones made from impure barium sulfate glow when exposed to light and will glow in the dark for up to six years if intensely heated in the presence of charcoal. These stones, were discovered near Bologna, Italy in the early 1500’s and were thought to possess magical properties. For example, when you combine it with sulfate to make barium sulfate, you can use it as a filler for rubber, plastics and resins, or if you combine it with carbon, making it barium carbonate, you can use it to manufacture creamics and some types of glass.

Barium has many different uses, especially when combined with other things.