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Arsenic is also found in food, water, soil, and air. [132] Arsenic is absorbed by all plants, but is more concentrated in leafy vegetables, rice, apple and grape juice, and seafood. [133] An additional route of exposure is inhalation of atmospheric gases and dusts. [134]
Arsenic is a metalloid with an atomic number of 33, and its common oxidation states are +3 or +5, as arsenate(As III) and arsenite(As V). [12] Arsenic is primarily found as organic arsenic compounds, inorganic arsenic compounds, and arsine gas.
In its standard state arsine is a colorless, denser-than-air gas that is slightly soluble in water (2% at 20 °C) [1] and in many organic solvents as well. [citation needed] Arsine itself is odorless, [5] but it oxidizes in air and this creates a slight garlic or fish-like scent when the compound is present above 0.5 ppm. [6]
Perey discovered it as a decay product of 227 Ac. [177] Francium was the last element to be discovered in nature, rather than synthesized in the lab, although four of the "synthetic" elements that were discovered later (plutonium, neptunium, astatine, and promethium) were eventually found in trace amounts in nature as well. [178]
The Marsh test treats the sample with sulfuric acid and arsenic-free zinc. Even if there are minute amounts of arsenic present, the zinc reduces the trivalent arsenic (As 3+). Here are the two half-reactions: Oxidation: Zn → Zn 2+ + 2 e − Reduction: As 2 O 3 + 12 e − + 6 H + → 2 As 3− + 3 H 2 O. Overall, we have this reaction:
Arsenic forms colorless, odorless, crystalline oxides As 2 O 3 ("white arsenic") and As 2 O 5 which are hygroscopic and readily soluble in water to form acidic solutions. Arsenic(V) acid is a weak acid and the salts are called arsenates , [ 5 ] the most common arsenic contamination of groundwater , and a problem that affects many people.
A chemical element, often simply called an element, is a type of atom which has a specific number of protons in its atomic nucleus (i.e., a specific atomic number, or Z). [ 1 ] The definitive visualisation of all 118 elements is the periodic table of the elements , whose history along the principles of the periodic law was one of the founding ...
The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8, meaning each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its nucleus. Atoms of the same element can have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, known as isotopes of the element. Two or more atoms can combine to form molecules.