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General

• Element Identification Timeline

What the name means: Strontium is named after a village in Scotland called Strontian. The mineral strontianite, that contains strontium compounds, was first found in a near-by lead mine.

Who identified strontium? Strontium was identified by Adair Crawford, an Irishman living in Scotland, who first recognised it as a new alkaline earth mineral (1790). Between 1791 and 1793, Dr Thomas Hope, working at Edinburgh University, extracted a compound called strontia from the mineral strontianite. He suspected that the compound contained a new element, following Antoine Lavoisier’s hypothesis that any new “earth” contained a new element. It was not until 1808 when Humphry Davy, using electrolysis, was able to obtain a sample of the element strontium.

About strontium: Strontium is never found as a free element since it is very reactive. When it is isolated from its compounds it is a yellowish-white, soft, silvery, metallic solid. Strontium metal reacts with the oxygen in the air and becomes covered by strontium oxide. Strontium will also react with water, although this is a slower reaction than with group 2 metals above strontium in the periodic table. Strontium burns in air producing a brilliant red flame (more brilliant than the flame produced when calcium burns in air). Strontium salts are used in fireworks to produce a red colour in the display.