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tellurium
(redirected from tellurous)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
tellurium (tĕlr`ēəm) [Lat.,=earth], semimetallic chemical element; symbol Te; at. no. 52; at. wt. 127.60; m.p. 450°C;; b.p. 990°C;; sp. gr. 6.24 at 20°C;; valence −2, +4, or +6. Tellurium is a lustrous, brittle, crystalline, silver-white metalloid. A powdery brown form of the element is also known. Tellurium forms many compounds corresponding to those of sulfur and selenium, the elements above it in Group 16 of the periodic table periodic table, chart of the elements arranged according to the periodic law discovered by Dmitri I. Mendeleev and revised by Henry G. J. Moseley . In the periodic table the elements are arranged in columns and rows according to increasing atomic number (see the
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. The dioxide, TeO2, is formed when the element is burned in air. Tellurium forms two weak acids and a number of halogen compounds. With hydrogen and with some metals it forms tellurides. Tellurium and its compounds are probably poisonous. Tellurium is occasionally found uncombined in nature but is more often found combined with metals, as in the minerals calaverite (gold telluride) and sylvanite (silver-gold telluride). Tellurium is recovered as a byproduct of the electrolytic refining of blister copper. It is used as an additive to steel and is often alloyed with aluminum, copper, lead, or tin. It is used in vulcanizing rubber, as a coloring agent in glass and ceramics, and in catalysts for petroleum cracking. Tellurium is a semiconductor material and is slightly photosensitive. It is used with bismuth in thermoelectric devices. Tellurium was discovered in 1782 by Franz Muller von Reichenstein. It was named by M. H. Klaproth, who isolated it in 1798.
tellurium
a brittle silvery-white nonmetallic element occurring both uncombined and in combination with metals: used in alloys of lead and copper and as a semiconductor. Symbol: Te; atomic no.: 52; atomic wt.: 127.60; valency: 2, 4, or 6; relative density: 6.24; melting pt.: 449.57±0.3°C; boiling pt.: 988°C

tellurium [tə′lu̇r·ē·əm]
(chemistry)
A member of group 16, symbol Te, atomic number 52, atomic weight 127.60; dark-gray crystals, insoluble in water, soluble in nitric and sulfuric acids and potassium hydroxide; melts at 452°C, boils at 1390°C; used in alloys (with lead or steel), glass, and ceramics.


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