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Cobalt is a chemical element; it has symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, somewhat brittle, gray metal.
Naturally occurring cobalt, Co, consists of a single stable isotope, 59 Co (thus, cobalt is a mononuclidic element). Twenty-eight radioisotopes have been characterized; the most stable are 60 Co with a half-life of 5.2714 years, 57 Co (271.811 days), 56 Co (77.236 days), and 58 Co (70.844 days). All other isotopes have half-lives of less than ...
Cobalt-60 (60 Co) is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2714 years. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] : 39 It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors . Deliberate industrial production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisotopic and mononuclidic cobalt isotope 59
[citation needed] Over geological time scales, very few metals can resist natural weathering processes like oxidation, so mainly the less reactive metals such as gold and platinum are found as native metals. The others usually occur as isolated pockets where a natural chemical process reduces a common compound or ore of the metal, leaving the ...
Cobalt is essential to the metabolism of all animals. It is a key constituent of cobalamin, also known as vitamin B 12, the primary biological reservoir of cobalt as an ultratrace element. [1] [2] Bacteria in the stomachs of ruminant animals convert cobalt salts into vitamin B 12, a compound which can only be produced by bacteria or archaea.
Cobalt deposits form near the surface like “raisins”, meaning the mineral can be dug in shallow pits. In some cases, industrial mines dump tons of stone and dirt beyond their compounds.
Continue reading → The post How to Invest in Cobalt appeared first on SmartAsset Blog. To investors, natural resources are known as the "commodities" market. This is a major sector of investing ...
Eventually, a less costly pigment was developed from cobalt ores, giving the color its present-day name. Cosmic Cobalt has been a favorite color for artists of every era. Getty Images/Wikimedia ...