bismuth
pronunciation
How to pronounce bismuth in British English:
UK [ˈbɪzməθ]
How to pronounce bismuth in American English:
US [ˈbɪzməθ]
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- Noun:
- a heavy brittle diamagnetic trivalent metallic element (resembles arsenic and antimony chemically); usually recovered as a by-product from ores of other metals
Word Origin
- bismuth (n.)
- 1660s, from obsolete German Bismuth, also Wismut, Wissmuth (early 17c.), which is of unknown origin; perhaps a miner's contraction of wis mat "white mass," from Old High German hwiz "white." Latinized 1530 by Georgius Agricola (who may have been the first to recognize it as an element) as bisemutum. According to Klein, not from Arabic.
Example
- 1. It 's likely that bismuth oxychloride is the reason .
- 2. This scanning tunneling microscope image of a bismuth superconducting compound shows a characteristic checkerboard pattern .
- 3. They work because certain materials , such as bismuth telluride , generate an electrical potential difference within themselves if one part is hotter than another .
- 4. The second desideratum , of low thermal and high electrical conductivity , was achieved by dividing the bismuth telluride into pellets a few nanometres across .
- 5. So , if you find you 're experiencing some problems with your current mineral makeup and it contains bismuth oxychloride , you may want to consider switching brands .