Zinc

Zinc By John Estes and Aaron Rosman



toc =﻿1) An Introduction From One of the Most Important People In the World, Borat!=

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=2) History of the Element's Discovery:=

The Asians, Greeks and the Romans all have used zinc alloys in ancient times in the production of brass,but it wasn't recognized as an element until later in the year 1746. The ancient Romans used zinc alloys to make things such as decorative items for their homes, coins, kettles, etc. Before zinc was first discovered as an element in Germany, the Indians discovered and produce metallic zinc in 1374. During that time, impure zinc was extracted from its ores by reducing calamine with different organic substances such as wool. The zinc mines in India also provided evidences that the Indians people knew how to produce metallic zinc and zinc oxide on a large scale. Zinc was first used for medical purposes in an ancient ayurveda text of India, called Charaka Samhita. This metal was then rediscovered in Europe in the 17th century when people throughout Europe recognized and knew about the existence of this metal. In 1740, William Champion set up a zinc industry in Bristol, England. Then in 1746, Zinc was first discovered as an element by a German Chemist [|Andreas Marggraf] in Germany. Its origin of name came from the German word “Zink”. Marggraf conducted an experiment that isolated zinc from its ore. He extracted zinc by heating calamine and carbon. The Chinese then learned the manufacturing process of this metal sometimes in the late 17th century. In the 1800, Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta discovered the electrochemical properties of zinc. Even though Marggraf was the first one to discovered zinc as an element, many historians believed that zinc was already used by the ancient people. Evidences that supported their belief were the prehistoric statuettes that were recovered in Transylvania, which were made from 87.5% zinc. Also, archaeologists found ornaments that had 80- 90% zinc, which were made approximately 2,500 years ago. The recovery of the Berne zinc tablet also provided the evidence that this metal was widely used in the early times. Now, zinc is widely used throughout the world in medicines, foods, preventing corrasion, etc.



= **3) The Uses of Zinc:** = = = Zinc is used in many ways for many reasons throughout the world. Well, when we say zinc, we don’t mean the pure element zinc, but rather zinc compounds that combine with other compounds. First of all, zinc is very important in making variety of alloys such as brass alloy, which contains about 33% zinc and 67% copper but the percentage can vary. The brass alloys can then be used to make music instruments, ornaments, screws, etc. Other alloys zinc compounds can make are bronze and copper in which zinc is mixed with other metals to form pennies and other coins. In alloys such as bronze, brass, and copper, zinc makes the metal stronger and also easier to work with too. Another use of zinc is galvanizing metals. Galvanize is the process of coating metals such as iron or steel so that they don’t rust when they make contact with other elements. Many steel industries use this process to prevent [|corrosion] to their metals. Construction builders also use this process to protect their huge steel beams from rusting. These are just few of the commercial and industrial uses of zinc. Zinc plates can be used in dry cell batteries, zinc can be used to make die castings for electrical, automotive, and hardware industries, electric fuses, removing impurities from water, micronutrient for plants, humans and animals, etc. Zinc can be combined with elements like chlorine, oxygen, and sulfur to form white paints, ceramics, wood preservatives, dyes, fertilizers, rubber, and many other things. All the products mentioned above are the second largest use of zinc alloys and remaining zinc consumptions. We all know how important zinc is to our body; it is one of the most important mineral our body needs in order for various parts to function. Due to the fact that zinc is highly associated with protein [|foods], many kinds of meats we eat today contain zinc since meats are protein. These meats include chicken, lamb, roast beef, clams, turkey, pork, crabmeat, salmon and lobster. Zinc isn’t only highly concentrated in meats, most foods we eat daily will most likely contain certain amount of zinc. Those who are vegetarians obtain protein through dairy products such as milk, cheese, yeast, beans, wholegrain, yogurt, and much more. Many medicines and drugs that we use today to treat diseases, illness, and other medical issues all contain zinc. Zinc is also used in medicines that treat rashes while zinc compounds are used in the drug industry as ingredients to make sun blocks, acne, athlete’s foot and poison ivy preparations, diaper rash ointment, anti-dandruff shampoos, deodorants, etc. The uses of zinc in food and medicine are one way our body can obtain it.




 * Zinc **
 * Zinc **

· Men need 15 mgs per day. · Women should get 12 mg per day. · Children need 10 to 15 mg per day. · Vegetarians need about 50 percent more zinc in their diet than meat eaters.

|| This metal is important in a number of key activities, ranging from protein and carbohydrate metabolism to the immune system, wound healing, growth and vision. Severe deficiency can contribute to stunted growth. Deficiency can sometimes be seen in white spots on the fingernails. 



 || Most fruits contain a small amount of zinc, but the following have a significant amount: · Avocado · Blackberries <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Dates <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Loganberries <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Pomegranate <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Raspberries



|| <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Vegetables: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Amaranth leaves <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Asparagus <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Bamboo Shoots <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Brussels Sprouts <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Corn <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· French Beans <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Lima Beans <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Okra <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Peas <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Potatoes <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Pumpkin <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Spirulina <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Swiss Chard || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Most nuts have some zinc, but these have a significant amount: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Buckwheat <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Cashews <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Oats <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Pine <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Nuts/Pignolias <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Pumpkin Seeds <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Rye <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Sunflower Seeds <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Wheat- Durum <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Wheat-Hard Red <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Wheat- Hard White || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Meat and Proteins: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Beef <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Cheddar Cheese <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Chicken Breast <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Chicken (dark meat) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Eggs <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Catfish <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Herring <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Sardines <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Lamb <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Pork <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Soy Beans <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Turkey Breast <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Turkey Bacon <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Veal <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Yogurt <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Turkey Leg <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Low fat Yogurt <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Roast Duck <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Hamburger <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Bacon <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Beef Sausage <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Beef Jerky <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Hot Dog (Beef) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Ground Turkey <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Ground Chicken ||

=**4) Economic Importance of Zinc:**= media type="custom" key="7985722"

= 5) Found in Environment and its Role in nature: = = = <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Zinc is naturally found everywhere throughout the environment. In nature, it is found in air, soil and water. This element can be released by natural processes, but the process would most likely be result of human activities such as those activities inside the steel industries. Where ores are mined, processed, and smelted for zinc is common areas where zinc is being released by natural processes into the environment such as air, water, and soil. The average concentration of zinc in air is around a little less than one microgram per cubic meter, but the concentration is measured higher near industrial sources. Zinc can be found in water such as in lakes and rivers out anywhere in the nature. The average concentration of zinc in lake and river water ranges from 0.02 to 0.05 milligram per liter in surface water while it ranges 0.01 to 0.1 milligram per liter in drinking water. In lakes and rivers, some zinc remains dissolved in water while other zinc settles in the bottom of the water. The zinc contained in U.S. soils typically range from 10 to 300 milligram per kilogram while the average concentration is around 50 milligram per kilogram. Zinc usually remains in the upper layers of the soil. The concentrations of zinc in sandy soil particles are about 200 times higher than in the water between the soil particles and in loam and clay soil, the concentration over 1,000 times higher. Soils that are heavily contaminated with zinc can be found near areas where zinc has been mined or refined. Zinc is an element that occurs very commonly in our nature. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Where else can you find out in the nature? Everywhere!!!!! Since zinc is an inherent part of our environment, it is present everywhere. You can also find zinc in while fish since many accumulates zinc, you can find zinc in many of the fruits that grows in the wild, you can find zinc near toxic waste sites, and near industrial sites like mines, factories, zinc is in rocks, the biosphere, plants, animals, and humans! <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Zinc plays a big part in nature. It is constantly being transported by nature through rain, snow, sun and wind. This process is called natural cycling. Wind and water carries zinc to lakes, rivers and the sea. The wind erodes zinc containing rocks and soil to various part of nature. Natural disasters such as forest fires, sea spray, dust storms and volcanic eruptions all contribute to the continuous cycling of zinc through nature. Throughout the course of a year, the amount of zinc present in the natural environment varies from place to place and from season to season. During the course of evolution, all living organisms have adapted to the zinc in their environment and used it for specific metabolic processes. Zinc is essential to all life and it plays a specific role in various biological reactions of all living organisms include humans, animals, plants, and the smallest microorganisms. Organisms take up the essential elements they need from their environment, which is directly from air, water, soil, and from food and they all contain zinc. Zinc deficiency in agricultural soils and crops is also a common phenomenon and constitutes a major problem in many parts of the world as crop yields are reduced and the quality of crops is often impaired. Relatively small amounts of zinc compounds can cure deficiency and last for several years before they need to be repeated. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

=**6) Effects On Human Health:**= media type="custom" key="7959020"

= 7) Chemistry and Physics of Zinc: = = = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Zinc is a bluish-white color metal with a shiny surface. Just like other transitional metals, zinc is ductile and malleable and it is a very good conductor of heat and electricity. However, at [|room temperature], zinc is brittle and it becomes malleable at 100°C to 150°C. On the periodic table, zinc is located in Group 12, Period 4 in the transitional metal family. This element is presented in the d-block on the Periodic Table. Zinc has fully filled s orbitals and have properties that are similar to the alkaline earth elements. As matter of fact, its ionization energy and electronegativity are very similar to the alkaline earth elements. Zinc burns in air at high red heat, evolving white clouds of zinc oxide. It burns in air with a bluish flame. The element zinc is fairly active and it dissolves in both acids and alkalis. Although, zinc does not react with oxygen in dry air, but in moist air, it reacts with air to form zinc carbonate. Zinc will form metallic bond in a bar of zinc metal and it will form an ionic bond if zinc is combined with a nonmetallic atom. Zinc normally bond with oxygen, chlorine, bromine, sulphur, and phosphorus. With oxygen, the reaction will be 2 ZnO. With chlorine, the reaction will be ZnCl2. The reaction will be ZnBr2 if it is with bromine. With sulphur, the reaction will be ZnS. With phosphorus, the reaction will be Zn3P2. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Zinc has 21 unknown [|isotopes], five stable and 16 unstable. Natural zinc contains that 5 stable isotopes. The [|five stable isotopes] are zinc-64, zinc-66, zinc-67, zinc-68, and zinc-70. Pure zinc shows almost no reaction with water or dilute acids because if the formation of a thin layer of hydrogen gas on its surface. Also, zinc in the presence of copper or platinum, it reacts readily with the evolution of hydrogen. Zinc forms a hydroxide, Zn(OH)2 that can dehydrate to form the anhydrous oxide ZnO, form Zn++ salts in acids solution or zincates, ZnO2 in alkaline solution. Zinc forms a tetrammino complex, Zn(NH3)4 in the presence of ammonium ion. Zinc chloride is hydrolyzed in solution, but it doesn’t give off HCl on evaporation. It is a drying agent and a catalyst, and is used for preserving wood. Here is some more basic information on the [|chemistry of Zinc]. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
 * ** Name: ** || // Zinc // ||
 * ** Symbol: ** || // Zn // ||
 * ** Atomic Number: ** || // 30 // ||
 * ** Atomic Mass: ** || // 65.39 amu // ||
 * ** Number of Protons: ** || // 30 // ||
 * ** Number of Electrons: ** || // 30 // ||
 * ** Number of Neutrons: ** || // 35 // ||
 * ** Melting Point: ** || // 419.5°C (787.1°F) // ||
 * ** Boiling Point: ** || // 908°C (1670°F) // ||
 * ** Density at 293 K: ** || // 7.14 grams per cubic centimeter // ||
 * ** Electron Configuration: ** || // 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2, 3d10 // ||
 * ** Element Classification: ** || // Transitional Metal // ||
 * ** Oxidation States: ** || // 2 // ||
 * ** Crystal Structure: ** || // Hexagonal // ||
 * **Number of Energy Levels:** || // 4 // ||
 * **[|Obtained From] : ** || // Zinc blende, calamine // ||

=//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">8) FUN FACTS!!! **//= = = <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">1. Did you know that the origin of the word zinc originated from the German word 'zin'? Zin in German means tin. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">2. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">3. You must eat 10 lbs. of zinc a year in order to be healthy. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">4. One of zinc’s major advantages is that it is recyclable. In North America alone, approximately one third of the zinc consumed annually comes from recycled material. The zinc industry is firmly committed to increasing that ratio, further reducing the requirements for virgin ores, energy, air and water. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">For more... Click on links below.

=Sources:=

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