Barium is a reactive metal encountered more often in compounds than in elemental form. The mineral barite is barium sulfate, important in drilling fluids, while barium nitrate produces green light in fireworks. These examples connect geological minerals, material density, and the colors emitted by heated substances.
FROM ELEMENT TO APPLICATION
AN ELEMENT IN CONTEXT
How does barite help a drilling fluid manage pressure?
Barite particles, barium sulfate
FOLLOW THIS RELATIONSHIP
Add a mineral weighting material
Ground barite supplies barium sulfate particles to drilling mud. The application uses a mineral dispersed in a fluid rather than elemental barium metal.
Explore the model (optional)
BaFORM → INTERACTION → CONSEQUENCE
Follow the explanation in either direction. These are authored steps, not a physical clock.
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What is barite’s central role in this application?
Atomic identity, reference properties and structure models
INTERACTIVE 3D54 visible sites
Body-centered cubic · a different packingDrag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom
A repeated local arrangement builds a crystal. The connecting rods identify nearest-neighbor geometry, not discrete molecules in a metal.
What this representation means
Idealized crystal fragment. Spheres and spacing are schematic; cropped boundary sites have fewer displayed neighbors than interior sites.
Barium-containing attracted attention before barium metal was isolated. In the early seventeenth century, processed Bologna stone became known for its glow; the original mineral was barite. Later chemical investigation distinguished barium compounds, and Humphry Davy obtained the metal in 1808 using electrochemical methods. The glowing material and the isolated metal were not the same substance, showing why a mineral's history should not be mistaken for elemental discovery.
Early 1600s
Bologna stone studied
Processed barite drew attention for its luminescence.
1808
Metal isolated
Davy obtained barium through electrochemical work.
Barite, barium sulfate, and witherite, barium , are important natural barium compounds. The metal's reactivity means ordinary mineral occurrence is chemically combined. Recognizing the anion matters: a sulfate mineral and a carbonate mineral can contain the same element yet differ in behavior, processing, and application.
Barium is a reactive alkaline-earth metal. Its compounds differ substantially in , so the word barium alone is insufficient to explain their behavior. Barium sulfate is poorly soluble, unlike many other barium salts. Form-specific chemistry is essential when interpreting both industrial uses and professionally controlled imaging applications.
Each section links its supporting references. Descriptions and diagrams were authored for this atlas. Source checks completed. Source checks dated 2026-09-06.
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Family labels and the group-3 layout are teaching conventions. A table position does not establish an unknown bulk property. Electronic configurations refer to neutral atoms; ions and material environments require their own account.
Read each reference property together with its units, conditions and the reference information below.
Not yet recorded: electron affinity, second ionization energy, ground-state term symbol, van der waals radius, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, electrical resistivity, crystal structure, lattice parameter a, space group, abundance in seawater, abundance in the universe, annual production, supply-risk listing, hazard classification, biological role, cas registry number, pubchem cid, wikidata item. These families are declared and awaiting an ingestion run against the source each names; they are listed here rather than shown as empty rows.
Physical
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Phase at 20 °C
solid
293.15 K, 101.325 kPa
Melting point in K
1000 K
at standard pressure unless noted
Boiling point in K
2170 K
101.325 kPa
Density in g/cm³
3.59 g/cm³
solids and liquids at 293 K; gases at 273 K and 101.325 kPa
Atomic and electronic
Intended reference: Pauling electronegativity scale · Widely tabulated; original in The Nature of the Chemical Bond
Electronegativity in Pauling
0.89 Pauling
Pauling scale
First ionization energy in kJ/mol
502.9 kJ/mol
gas-phase neutral atom, ground state
Covalent radius in pm
215 pm
single-bond covalent radius
Common oxidation states
+2
states met in ordinary compounds; not exhaustive
Occurrence and identity
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Abundance in the crust in mg/kg
425 mg/kg
upper continental crust, mass fraction
Has stable isotopes
Yesderived
Discovery year in CE
1808 CEderived
WHERE IT SITS AMONG ITS NEIGHBORS
Electronegativity across period 6
Ba 0.89 Pauling · Barium
Electronegativity across period 6. Exact values.
Cs
0.79
Ba
0.89
La
1.1
Ce
1.12
Pr
1.13
Nd
1.14
Sm
1.17
Eu
1.2
Gd
1.2
Tb
1.1
Dy
1.22
Ho
1.23
Er
1.24
Tm
1.25
Yb
1.1
Lu
1.27
Hf
1.3
Ta
1.5
W
2.36
Re
1.9
Os
2.2
Ir
2.2
Pt
2.28
Au
2.54
Hg
2
Tl
1.62
Pb
2.33
Bi
2.02
Po
2
At
2.2
Electronegativity down group 2
Ba 0.89 Pauling · Barium
Electronegativity down group 2. Exact values.
Be
1.57
Mg
1.31
Ca
1
Sr
0.95
Ba
0.89
Ra
0.9
The trend uses the same reference-property values as the periodic table. Elements with no recorded value are left out of the line rather than drawn at zero.
