Cobalt Facts for Kids

The Periodic Table - Cobalt
  • Name: Cobalt
  • Symbol: Co
  • Atomic Number: 27
  • Atomic Weight: 58.933195 u
  • Period: 4
  • Group: 9 (cobalt group)

32 Cobalt Facts for Kids

  1. Cobalt is a chemical element on the periodic table.
  2. Cobalt is a shiny and hard metal with a silver-gray color.
  3. The name Cobalt comes from the German word kobold, which means goblin. Ore of cobalt mined in Ancient times always contained arsenic and the smelting process would release the highly toxic gas arsenic oxide.
  4. Cobalt was discovered in 1735 (circa) by Swedish chemist and mineralogist Georg Brandt.
  5. The symbol for cobalt is Co.
  6. The atomic number for cobalt is 27.
  7. The standard atomic weight of cobalt is 58.933195 u.
  8. Cobalt is a solid at room temperature.
  9. Cobalt is in the transition metal element category on the periodic table.
  10. Cobalt is a period 4 chemical element, which is the fourth row on the periodic table.
  11. Cobalt is a group 9 chemical element, which is the cobalt group.
  12. Cobalt is in the d-block on the periodic table.
  13. The elemental configuration for cobalt is [Ar] 3d7 4s2.
  14. The electrons per shell for cobalt are 2, 8, 15, 2.
  15. Cobalt has one stable isotope.
  16. Cobalt’s one stable isotope is 59Co.
  17. The melting point of cobalt is 2723 °F (1495 °C).
  18. The boiling point of cobalt is 5301 °F (2927 °C).
  19. Supernovas created the stable form of cobalt through the r-process.
  20. The composition of the Earth’s crust contains 0.0029% cobalt.
  21. According to the USGS, the world produced over 121,000 tons of cobalt in 2017.
  22. According to the USGS, the largest producer of cobalt in 2017 was DR Congo with over 75,000 tons.
  23. According to the USGS, the worldwide proven reserves of cobalt are 7.8 million tons.
  24. Cobalt can be mixed with other metals and elements to create superalloys.
  25. Cobalt compounds, like lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) are used in lithium-ion batteries.
  26. There are many different cobalt compounds that can be used as an oxidation catalyst.
  27. Cobalt can be used to create pigments and add color to manmade products.
  28. Cobalt is used as a pigment in blue-colored glass known as smalt.
  29. A few of the available cobalt colors are cobalt blue, cerulean blue, cobalt green, cobalt violet and cobalt yellow.
  30. Cobalt can be used to sterilize medical supplies and medical waste.
  31. Cobalt warheads are a salted nuclear weapon that are designed to enhance the nuclear fallout from decontamination and contaminate a vast area with radioactive material. In this type of nuclear weapon, 59Co is added and during detonation it would produce 60Co and be dispersed over an area as nuclear fallout.
  32. 60Co is used in external beam radiotherapy to treat certain types of cancer.

Additional Resources on Cobalt

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.