Bismuth Facts for Kids

Bismuth - Periodic Table of Elements
  • Name: Bismuth
  • Symbol: Bi
  • Atomic Number: 83
  • Atomic Weight: 208.9804 u
  • Period: 6
  • Group: 15

26 Bismuth Facts for Kids

  1. Bismuth is a chemical element on the periodic table.
  2. Bismuth is a brittle metal.
  3. Bismuth has a silvery white color, but if the surface oxidizes it can have a iridescent tinge.
  4. The symbol for bismuth is Bi.
  5. The atomic number for bismuth is 83.
  6. The standard atomic weight of bismuth is 208.9804 u.
  7. Bismuth is a solid at room temperature.
  8. Bismuth is in the post-transition metal element category on the periodic table.
  9. Bismuth is a period 6 chemical element, which is the sixth row on the periodic table.
  10. Bismuth is a group 15 chemical element, which is the nitrogen group.
  11. Bismuth is in the p-block on the periodic table of elements.
  12. The electron configuration for bismuth is [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p3.
  13. The electrons per shell for bismuth are 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 5.
  14. There are 41 known isotopes for bismuth, and they range from 184Bi to 224Bi.
  15. There are no known stable isotopes for bismuth, however bismuth-209 (209Bi) is sometimes considered stable due to its half-life, which is billions of times more than the estimated age of the universe.
  16. The melting point for bismuth is 520.7 °F (271.5 °C).
  17. The boiling point for bismuth is 2,847 °F (1,564 °C).
  18. Bismuth has been known for a long time and was discovered by Arabic alchemists prior to 1,000 AD.
  19. It’s estimated that bismuth is around twice as abundant as gold in the Earth’s crust.
  20. The primary ores mined to produced bismuth are bismuthinite and bismite.
  21. In 2017, the worldwide production of bismuth was over 15,400 tons.
  22. In 2017, the world’s largest producer of bismuth was China with over 12,100 tons.
  23. The bismuth containing compound bibrocathol is used to treat eye infections and reduce eye swelling.
  24. Bismuth is used in iron metal alloys that are used for fire suppression sprinkler systems.
  25. The compound bismuth subsalicylate is used to prevent diarrhea.
  26. The compound bismuth oxychloride is occasionally used as a pigment in cosmetic products.

Additional Resources on the Chemical Element Bismuth

  • Bismuth – Learn more about the chemical element bismuth on the U.S. National Library of Medicine website.
  • Bismuth (Bi) – Discover more facts about bismuth on the Royal Society of Chemistry website.
  • Bismuth – Wikipedia – Find more bismuth facts on the Wikipedia website.

About the author
Facts Editor

This is an author profile for articles that are created from a collaborative effort. It is not uncommon that articles on this site were either written, researched or fact checked by several authors and team members. So this author profile will be displayed to reflect that. Our team of editors, writers and fact checkers do extensive research before publishing articles on the site, and we do our best to provide the most accurate information possible.