Editing Strontium (section)

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'''Strontium''' is a [[chemical element]]; it has [[Symbol (chemistry)|symbol]] '''Sr''' and [[atomic number]] 38. An [[alkaline earth metal]], it is a soft silver-white yellowish [[metal]]lic element that is highly [[Reactivity (chemistry)|chemically reactive]]. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is exposed to air. Strontium has physical and chemical properties similar to those of its two vertical neighbors in the periodic table, [[calcium]] and [[barium]]. It occurs naturally mainly in the [[minerals]] [[Celestine (mineral)|celestine]] and [[strontianite]], and is mostly mined from these.

Both strontium and strontianite are named after [[Strontian]], a village in Scotland near which the mineral was discovered in 1790 by [[Adair Crawford]] and [[William Cruickshank (chemist)|William Cruickshank]]; it was identified as a new element the next year from its crimson-red [[flame test]] color. Strontium was first isolated as a metal in 1808 by [[Humphry Davy]] using the then newly discovered process of [[electrolysis]]. During the 19th century, strontium was mostly used in the production of sugar from [[sugar beet]]s (see [[strontian process]]). At the peak of production of television [[cathode-ray tube]]s, as much as 75% of strontium consumption in the United States was used for the faceplate glass.<ref name="USGS">{{cite web |url=https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/mineral-resource-month-strontium|title=Mineral Resource of the Month: Strontium|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|access-date=16 August 2015|date=8 December 2014}}</ref> With the replacement of cathode-ray tubes with other display methods, consumption of strontium has dramatically declined.<ref name="USGS" />

While natural strontium (which is mostly the [[isotope]] strontium-88) is stable, the synthetic [[strontium-90]] is radioactive and is one of the most dangerous components of [[nuclear fallout]], as strontium is absorbed by the body in a similar manner to calcium. Natural stable strontium, on the other hand, is not hazardous to health.