Periodic Table

Polonium

Metalloid

Quick Facts about Polonium

Bi
  • solid- state of matter at room temperature
  • Radioactive- no stable isotopes exist
  • +4, +2- common oxidation states in compounds
  • SC- crystal structure, atomic arrangement in solid form
At

Polonium (Po) is element 84 on the periodic table. Atomic mass of Po: 209.0000 u. Po is in period 6, group 16. Melting point of Po: 527.00 K.Density of Po: 9.20 g/cm³.

Why Polonium Matters

Marie Curie's first discovery—named for her occupied homeland

Industry Uses

SpaceRTGs (radioisotope thermoelectric generators) use Po-210's heat for spacecraft power
ManufacturingStatic eliminators for paper/film production (being phased out)
Historical1950s-60s antistatic brushes for vinyl records (discontinued)

In Your Body

✗ Not essential

No biological role. Was used to assassinate Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. Tiny amounts deliver lethal radiation doses. Polonium in tobacco smoke contributes to lung cancer.

Safety: Extremely radioactive and toxic. One microgram is lethal. Alpha particles destroy tissue internally.

Discovery of Polonium

Discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie in France, 1898

Name origin: Named for Poland, native country of Marie Curie.

History & Events

1898
Named after Poland, homeland of discoverer Marie Curie
1898
First element discovered through radioactivity (1898)
1898
Marie Curie discovered it while studying pitchblende
1898
Named to draw attention to Poland's struggle for independence

About Polonium

Rare radioactive metallic element, belongs to group 16 of the periodic table. Over 30 known isotopes exist, the most of all elements. Po-209 has a half-life of 103 years. Possible uses in heating spacecraft. Discovered by Marie Curie in 1898 in a sample of pitchblende.

Atomic Properties of Po

Atomic Number of Po
84
Atomic Mass of Po
209.0000 u
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p4
Electronegativity
2.00
Block
p-block
Group
16
Period
6

Physical Properties of Po

Phase (STP)
solid
Melting Point of Po
527.00 K
Boiling Point of Po
1235.00 K
Density of Po
9.1960 g/cm3

Thermal Properties

Heat of Fusion
10.00 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization
102.90 kJ/mol

Atomic Radii

Calculated
190 pm
Covalent
145 pm
Van der Waals
197 pm

Common Misconceptions

Wrong:Polonium-210 poisoning is instantly lethal.
Correct:Alexander Litvinenko survived 3 weeks after exposure—long enough to identify his assassins. Po-210 causes gradual radiation sickness as it destroys cells from within.
Wrong:Polonium is only known as a poison and has no legitimate uses.
Correct:Po-210's intense alpha radiation makes it an efficient heat source for RTGs in space probes. It was also used in industrial static eliminators and early antistatic brushes.
Wrong:Tobacco smoke doesn't contain radioactive elements.
Correct:Tobacco plants absorb polonium-210 from phosphate fertilizers. A pack-a-day smoker gets ~160 mSv/year to their lungs from Po-210—equivalent to hundreds of chest X-rays.

Isotopes of Polonium

Polonium has 0 naturally occurring isotopes, plus 3 notable radioactive isotopes.

IsotopeAtomic Mass (u)AbundanceHalf-LifeDecay Mode
20984Po (Po-209)Polonium-209 isotope208.9824308125.2 yearsα, EC
21084Po (Po-210)Polonium-210 isotope209.9828741138.4 daysα
21384Po (Po-213)Polonium-213 isotope212.9928570%3.7 microsecondsα

Data source: NIH PubChem (aggregated from IUPAC, NIST)

Isotope Applications

Isotopes of Polonium have important real-world applications in science and industry.

Industrial Applications

210Po (with a half-life of 138 days) is used as static eliminator to remove static electricity in machinery. This is useful in machinery that produces electricity easily, for example, via rolling paper, manufacturing sheet plastics, and spinning synthetic fibers, which all readily produce static [75], [563]. 210Po can also make use of its static eliminating properties when used in brushes that function to clean camera lenses and photographic films (Fig. IUPAC.84.1) [75]. 210Po has been used to manufacture atomic weapons. When combined with beryllium, polonium can act as a neutron-producing initiator. However, because of its short half-life, 210Po is no longer used in this manner [75].

Abundance

Earth's Crust
2.00×10-10 mg/kg
Seawater
1.50×10-14 mg/L

Uses

Used in industrial equipment that eliminates static electricity caused by such processes as rolling paper, wire, and sheet metal.

Sources

Occurs in pitchblende from decay of bismuth.

Geochemistry

Goldschmidt
synthetic
Geochemical Class
U/Th decay series

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