BRO-MINE
When you think of bromine, think reddish-brown. Gases with bromine atoms often have a dirty color, they smell bad, and they might make your skin and nose irritated. The name bromine is even based on the Greek word "bromos" that means something that smells bad. Even though it can cause major health problems for us, bromine is very useful.
Balard discovered the element in 1826. One of the very cool physical properties of bromine is that it is the only nonmetallic element that is a liquid at room temperature. Don't let that cool trait overwhelm you. Bromine is a very dangerous chemical, purified or in gas form. Bromine is a member of the halogen family of elements. Its companions include fluorine, chlorine, and iodine.
Where can you find bromine?
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Seawater You know that sodium chloride is out there in the world's oceans. Sodium bromide is also found as one of the ocean salts, though it is in smaller amounts. |
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Pesticides In the same way bromine gas is toxic to you, bromine is an element used in many pesticides to control insect infestations. |
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Plastics Not all plastics are the same. You know that from just looking at your toys and your computer. There are also special plastics that are flame resistant. Bromine is used in the manufacture of those flame resistant plastics. |
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Water Purification Wow. We just told you that bromine is found in seawater and now we're letting you know that bromine is an important element in the purification of water. Bromine is used to disinfect the fresh water before you drink it. |
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Medicine Along with many other simple elements on the periodic table, bromine is used in medicines. It readily bonds with many elements and is a great addition to many helpful molecules. |
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Photography Many liquids are used in developing photographs. It's not always a digital world. When you need to develop film, some of those fluids have bromine salts and compounds. |
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