004 Beryllium
004 Beryllium
002 Helium003 Lithium004 Beryllium005 Boron006 CarbonBlankBlankBlank004 Beryllium012 Magnesium020 Calcium038 Strontium056 Barium088 Radium
Beryllium is an alkali earth metal, reasonably stable in air, and extremely toxic in powdered form. It's used as an alloying element for copper, imparting great strength and springiness to the metal. But because of its toxicity, care should be taken when machining beryllium copper.
Solid lumps of beryllium left alone are not dangerous as such: It's not going to rub off and go through your skin. It's used to make critical high-strength, low-weight parts for missiles and the like.
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Samples with Rotatable Images
004.1
3DCrystalline lumps, 99.9%.
Ed Pegg got these little lumps of pure beryllium from Tom Salow.
Source: Tom Salow
Contributor: Ed Pegg Jr
Acquired: 18 July, 2002
Price: $10/gram
Size: 0.4"
Purity: 99.9%
004.2
X-ray window.
This is described as an x-ray tube window. It has a crude edge around it, but I guess that didn't matter in its intended application.
Source: eBay seller rubbleshop
Contributor: eBay seller rubbleshop
Acquired: 4 November, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 0.5"
Purity: >99%
004.3
Electrical insulator.
Beryllium oxide is used as an electrical insulator, I suppose because it's a good insulator. It's quite glassy, like a real ceramic, not powdery like many metal oxides. I don't know if that's a basic property of the material, or whether it's somehow vitrified in a matrix of some other ceramic material.

Want to see one in action? Here's a picture of what looks like this exact insulator being used to make a fun little gadget, a tabletop fusion machine. I have it on good authority that this is not like cold fusion, that it really does work to produce fusion. (It's not a practical source of power because of the tiny amounts of fusion that actually occur, but it is said to be the only low-cost source of neutrons if you need them for some reason.) It sure would be fun to tell our personnel manager we're building a fusion reactor in the unused cubicle: I wonder what the employee manual has to say about that....

Source: eBay seller billw86@hotmail.com
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 8 November, 2002
Price: $20
Size: 9"
Purity: 36%
004.4
Sample from the Red Green and Blue Company Element Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order.

For most sample from this set I have my own picture on the left and the one from the company here, but I haven't taken a picture of this sample yet so there's only one picture.

Source: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company
Contributor: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company
Acquired: 25 January, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 99.9%
004.5
Sample from the Everest Element Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (excepted gasses) weight about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.

This particular sample requires a special warning: Powdered beryllium is extremely toxic! Max Whitby has calculated that this sample contains enough beryllium to contaminate 100,000 cubic meters of air to the regulatory hazard level. Were it to break, special precautions would be necessary. Fortunately, it's a relatively course powder and would probably not spread very far or very fast, but it would definitely be necessary to clean it up carefully and completely (not using a vacuum cleaner).

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.

Source: Rob Accurso
Contributor: Rob Accurso
Acquired: 7 February, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: >99%
AquamarineBeryl3
3DAquamarine Beryl from Jensan Set.
This sample represents beryllium in the "The Grand Tour of the Periodic Table" mineral collection from Jensan Scientifics. Visit my page about element collecting for a general description, or see photographs of all the samples from the set in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.
Source: Jensan Scientifics
Contributor: Jensan Scientifics
Acquired: 17 March, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Composition: Be3Al2Si6O18
AquamarineBeryl
3DAquamarine Beryl. (External Sample)
Beryl is named after its beryllium content. It comes in a great variety of shapes and colors.
Location: John Gray's Collection
Photographed: 11 March, 2003
Size: 3"
Composition: Be3Al2Si6O18
AquamarineBeryl2
3DAquamarine Beryl. (External Sample)
Beryl is named after its beryllium content. It comes in a great variety of shapes and colors.
Location: John Gray's Collection
Photographed: 11 March, 2003
Size: 3"
Composition: Be3Al2Si6O18