Chromium: Properties, Uses, and Benefits of Element 24

Chromium: A Versatile and Essential Element

Chromium is a useful, very hard, crystalline, steel-gray metal, discovered by Louis Vauquelin in 1797 while working with a material known as Siberian red lead (crocoite). While you might think of highly polished chrome electroplating, purified chromium metal is grayish in color, but still very bright and lustrous. The attribute that makes electroplating perfect is that it's really corrosion resistant. It won't easily rust.

Chromium's symbol is: Cr. Its atomic number is 24. It is located in group 6, and period 4.

The name of the element is derived from the Greek word, chrōma, meaning color, because many chromium compounds are intensely colored.

Applications of Chromium

Chromium plating can be used to give a polished mirror finish to steel. Chromium-plated car and lorry parts, such as bumpers, were once very common. It is also possible to chromium plate plastics, which are often used in bathroom fittings. About 90% of all leather is tanned using chrome. However, the waste effluent is toxic so alternatives are being investigated, such as vegetable dying. Chromium compounds are used as industrial catalysts and pigments (in bright green, yellow, red and orange colors). Rubies get their red color from chromium, and glass treated with chromium has an emerald green color.

Chromium in Diet and Health

Even a wide variety of aliments contain chromium, such as broccoli, whole-grain food and diary; chromium is an essential trace element that enhances insulin function and influences carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism. It helps insulin create energy from sugar, which then helps cholesterol and building muscle. It has also been suggested that chromium could be used as an adjunct to weight loss and to improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes.

Occurrence and Production

Chromium is found mainly in chromite. This ore is found in many places including South Africa, India, Kazakhstan and Turkey. Chromium metal is usually produced by reducing chromite with carbon in an electric-arc furnace, or reducing chromium oxide with aluminium or silicon. This element is the 20th most abundant in the earth crust.