Arsenic
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | [[Image:A painting of the English romantic poet Thomas Chatterton, believed to have killed himself with arsenic in 1770.jpg |thumb|right|200px|A painting of the English romantic poet [[Thomas Chatterton]], believed to have killed himself with [[arsenic]] in [[1770]]]] | + | [[Image:A painting of the English romantic poet Thomas Chatterton, believed to have killed himself with arsenic in 1770.jpg |thumb|right|200px|''[[The Death of Chatterton]]'' (1856) by [[Henry Wallis]]]] |
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Revision as of 15:44, 7 January 2013
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Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250. Arsenic is a metalloid. It can exist in various allotropes, although only the grey form has important use in industry.
The main use of metallic arsenic is for strengthening alloys of copper and especially lead (for example, in car batteries). Arsenic is a common n-type dopant in semiconductor electronic devices, and the optoelectronic compound gallium arsenide is the most common semiconductor in use after doped silicon. Arsenic and its compounds, especially the trioxide, are used in the production of pesticides (treated wood products), herbicides, and insecticides. These applications are declining, however.
Arsenic is notoriously poisonous to multicellular life, although a few species of bacteria are able to use arsenic compounds as respiratory metabolites. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a problem that affects millions of people across the world.
See also
