thallium

American  

[thal-ee-uhm] / ˈθæl i əm /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a soft, malleable, rare, bluish-white metallic element: used in the manufacture of alloys and, in the form of its salts, in rodenticides. Tl; 204.37; 81; 11.85 at 20°C.

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thallium British  

/ ˈθælɪəm /

noun

1. a soft malleable highly toxic white metallic element used as a rodent and insect poison and in low-melting glass. Its compounds are used as infrared detectors and in photoelectric cells. Symbol: Tl; atomic no: 81; atomic wt: 204.3833; valency: 1 or 3; relative density: 11.85; melting pt: 304°C; boiling pt: 1473±10°C

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thallium Scientific  

/ thăl′ē-əm /

1. A soft, malleable, very poisonous metallic element that is used in photography, in making low-melting and highly refractive glass, and in treating skin infections. Atomic number 81; atomic weight 204.38; melting point 303.5°C; boiling point 1,457°C; specific gravity 11.85; valence 1, 3.

2. See Periodic Table

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Etymology

Origin of thallium

1860–65; < New Latin, equivalent to thall- (< Greek thallós green stalk) + -ium -ium; named after green line in its spectrum

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thallium

Much of the thallium in the Baltic Sea, the largest human-induced hypoxic area on Earth, accumulates in the sediment thanks to abundant sulfide minerals.

From Science Daily ● May 2, 2024

The thallium isotope ratios showed the global ocean lost oxygen overall during the last ice age compared to the current warmer interglacial period.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 21, 2024

Lepidolite extraction and smelting produces toxic by-products like thallium and tantalum that cause severe water pollution, said Wu Wei, an assistant professor at Xiamen University.

From Reuters ● Jun. 15, 2023

While analysing Miyamoto's smartphone, police found internet searches for thallium from before the time Hamano was hospitalised.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2023

On chromate of cadmium, made with bichromate of potash, thallium would naturally confer an orange hue.

From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Thomas Salter

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