Author:
Jan Scholten
Book:
Qjurious
Type:
Info
Chapter:
1-255.00.15
Antimonium
Signature
The name is derived from the Greek phrase ‘Antimonos’ meaning ‘against loneliness’. The abbreviation Sb comes from the Latin name stibium, meaning ‘marking stick’, because they used it to accentuate their eyebrows. It was discovered around 1450.
Antimony looks like Arsenicum: it is a silvery white, glossy, brittle metallic substance that is easily pulverised. It is rarely found in its pure form: we generally find it in combination with other elements, mostly in the form of sulphides and oxides.
It is used in antimony-lead batteries and in tin alloys. Also in pyrotechnics and in the manufacture of textiles, rubber and glass.