048 Cadmium
048 Cadmium
046 Palladium047 Silver048 Cadmium049 Indium050 TinBlankBlankBlankBlankBlankBlank030 Zinc048 Cadmium080 Mercury112 112
Cadmium used to be used extensively to as a protective coating for steel, in much the way that zinc is used today ("Galvanized" steel is zinc-plated). Cadmium plating is still used in some specialized applications, but the toxicity of cadmium has discouraged more common use as a plating.

Large amounts of cadmium are used in Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cad) rechargeable batteries, used in a wide variety of electronic devices. Again the toxicity of cadmium is a problem, and it's important to bring rechargeable batteries back for recycling, to avoid contaminating landfills. Fortunately Ni-Cad technology is being replaced in many applications by nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion technologies, which are both longer-lasting and less toxic.
Detailed Technical Data

Compare at other websites:
www.webelements.com
Los Alamos National Labs
Royal Society of Chemistry
Toxicology
Isotope information
Minerals
Translations and Etymology
Science Fiction (Main Site)
Comics
Poetry (Main Site)
Haiku (Main Site)

Collections:
Samples with Rotatable Images
048.1
3D2 inch anode ball.
Purchased from eBay seller "El_Three" in May 2002. Similar balls are for sale in 100lb quantities by suppliers who list them as "anode balls". I'm not clear what industrial process they are used for, but reader Dan Burrill from the UK reports as follows:
It is almost certainly used in electroplating, where the anode often consists of a cloth bag containing balls of metal or shot, depending upon the exact coating required. I'm not an expert on the subject, but my late father and I have worked in plating factories in the past and seen this in action. I believe this is done to provide a larger surface area, whilst the cloth bag prevents particles of the disintegrating anode from detaching and adhering to the article being plated.
From memory, nickel-cadmium plating used to be used on engine parts and other high-wear, high-temperature items, but I know this was banned in the UK some time ago (I'm not sure about its current status in other parts of the world). I believe it was replaced with zinc-nickel, but couldn't say for sure.
Sounds plausible to me.
Source: eBay seller El_Three
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 13 May, 2002
Price: $35
Size: 2"
Purity: >95%
048.2
Small lump 99.998%.
Kindly donated by David Franco, who sent many elements after seeing the slashdot discussion.
Source: David Franco
Contributor: David Franco
Acquired: 17 May, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 99.998%
048.3
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.

The picture on the left was taken by me. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples):


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: 99.9975%
048.4
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.

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%