Essay Archive - Lead and The Environment
Lead and The Environment
Some materials are so commonplace that we take them for granted. One of
those materials is a grayish metal that has been with us for thousands of years.
That metal is lead, still one of the world's most useful substances, and one
that never ceases to find a role in human society.
Lead has the atomic symbol of Pb (for plumbum, lead in Latin). The
atomic number for lead is 82 and the atomic mass is 207.19 AMU. It melts at
about 327.502 oC and boils at 1740 oC. Lead is a heavy, ductile, soft, gray
solid. It is soluble in nitric acid and insoluble....
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