Tellurium is the Latin word for earth. A brittle, non-malleable silvery white metalloid, tellurium (Te) is a rare element having both physical and spiritual properties. Tellurium easily forms compounds with gold (Au), and may have potential for dark matter.
While tellurium can be found in its elemental form, it's more common in the form of gold tellurides or alloys such as calaverite and krennerite. Gold often manifests in pure form. When in a compound, it's commonly with silver, quartz, calcite, lead, tellurium, zinc or copper.
A metalloid element, tellurium has a highly metallic silvery-white appearance. It's extremely brittle and shows no reactivity towards water and some acids, but does react with air. It's often found with gold.
Ignited in air or oxygen, tellurium converts into tellurium dioxide (TeO2) and burns with a blue-green flame. While hydrochloric acid has no effect on it, nitric acid or aqua regia (alchemical royal water) can oxidize tellurium to form tellurous acid (H2TeO3).
Recently, physicists and materials scientists have discovered unique quantum characteristics. These appear in layered compounds made of tellurium combined with rare-earth elements, such as yttrium (Y).
These exhibit a two-dimensional nature in an orthorhombic crystal structure. Orthorhombic is one of the seven crystal systems of gemology. At its most basic it's a cube. Tellurium manifests in two varieties of two-dimensional configuration.
Its two dimensional layered configuration tellurium is believed responsible for quantum characteristics like charge-density waves, high carrier mobility, superconductivity under specific conditions, and other unique properties.
Discovery of tellurium-bearing compounds happens in 1782, in a Transylvanian gold mine of today's Romania. Its name comes from Latin tellus or 'earth'. It has a low melting point (449.51 °C, 841.12 °F). Molten tellurium is corrosive to copper, iron and stainless steel.
Mine inspector Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein examines what he thinks is antimony, but lacking the same properties. Unable to identify the metal after three years of testing, Müller calls it aurum paradoxum (paradoxical gold) and metallum problematicum (problem metal).
Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur. All three are chalcogens (ie: in the oxygen family). Found in its native form as elemental crystals tellurium is more common in the Universe as a whole than on Earth.
Its rarity in the Earth's crust, comparable to that of platinum, is due partly to its formation of a volatile hydride, or hydrogen compound. This causes tellurium to become a gas. Much is lost to space during the hot nebular formation of Earth.
If heated, the metal releases white smoke with a radish-like smell. It gives a red hue to sulfuric acid. On dilution with water it forms a black precipitate. When tellurium is oxidized it makes beautiful golden yellow crystals like the one below.
Spiritually, tellurium relates to focus, creativity, releasing unwanted feelings and emotion-driven thoughts. Metal has more wealth-drawing properties while crystals have more health-drawing properties. Mildly toxic, tellurium and its manifestations must be handled with care.
Exposure can cause:
headache
fatigue
dizziness
drowsiness
weakness
Repeated exposure can cause
garlic odor on breath
body odor
nausea
vomiting
loss of appetite
upset stomach
metallic taste
irritability.
In 2022, physicists at Boston College lead an international team to discover a new axial mode of a Higgs-like particle. This mode shows its magnetic properties and potential as dark matter.
Dark matter, unlike regular matter, doesn't respond to electromagnetic force. Thus it doesn't absorb, reflect or emit light, making it exceptionally hard to detect. Scientists have deduced the presence of dark matter solely from its gravitational influence on observable matter.
Alloys commonly include tellurium to increase machinability, particularly in combination with copper and stainless steel. Its addition to lead and other metals enhances resistance to acids while also boosting strength and hardness.
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