Barium Barium Barium is a chemical element with symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Its hydroxide, known in pre-modern times as baryta, does not occur as a mineral, but can be prepared by heating barium carbonate. The most common naturally occurring minerals of barium are barite (now called baryte) (barium sulfate, BaSO) and witherite (barium carbonate, BaCO), both insoluble in water. The name "barium" originates from the alchemical derivative
Period 6 element element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84, discovered in 1898 by Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. A rare and highly radioactive element, polonium is chemically similar to bismuth and tellurium, and it occurs in uraniumores. Polonium has been studied for possible use in heating spacecraft. As it is unstable, all isotopes of polonium are radioactive. There is disagreement as to whether polonium is a post-transition metal or metalloid. Astatine is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol At and atomic number 85. It occurs on the Earth only as the result of decay of heavier elements, and decays