What is Barium atom?

     

Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56.  It is the fifth element in Group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal.  Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element.  

     The most common minerals of barium are baryte and witherite both insoluble in water.  The name baroum originates form the alchemical derivative "baryta" from Greek meaning "heavy".  Baric is the adjectival form of barium.  Barium was identified as a new element in 1774,but not reduced to a metal untile 1808 with the advent of electrolysis.

     Barium has few industrial applications.  Historically, it was used as a getter for vacuum tubes and in oxide form as the emissive coating on indirectly heated cathodes.  It is a component of YBCO  and electroceramics, and is added to steel and cast iron to reduce the size of carbon grains within the microstructure.