Bismuth Tech Report
Overview
Early chemists had difficulty separating similar elements from each other. Elements with similar properties can only be told apart with tests not available before the eighteenth century.
Chemists also believed that metals grew in the earth, in much the same way that plants grow. Unattractive metals, like lead, were thought to be young or immature metals. More attractive metals, like tin, were thought to be partially grown. The most mature metals were silver and gold. This made identification very difficult. Were chemists looking at "older lead" or a "younger tin?"
Bismuth is one of the elements often confused with other elements. Old manuscripts show that bismuth was often confused with lead, tin, antimony, or even silver.
SYMBOL
Bi

ATOMIC NUMBER
83

ATOMIC MASS
208.9804

FAMILY
Group 15 (VA)
Nitrogen

Physical properties
Bismuth is a soft, silvery metal with a bright, shiny surface and a yellowish or pinkish tinge. The metal breaks easily and cannot be fabricated (worked with) at room temperature. Its melting point is 271°C (520°F) and its boiling point is 1,560°C (2,480°F). Its density is 9.78 grams per cubic centimeter.
Bismuth expands as it solidifies (changes from a liquid to a solid). Most materials contract (have a smaller volume) as they solidify. Few elements behave like bismuth.
This property makes bismuth useful for producing type metal. An alloy of bismuth is melted and poured into molds that have the shape of letters and numbers. As the type cools, it solidifies and expands to fill all the comers of the mold. The type formed is clear, crisp, and easy to read. Computer typesetting, however, has largely replaced bismuth metal typesetting.

Chemical properties
Bismuth combines slowly with oxygen at room temperature. Bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) gives the metal its pinkish or yellowish tinge. At higher temperatures, the metal burns to form bismuth oxide. Bismuth also reacts with most acids.