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
Symbol (chemistry) (namely those in the actinium decay family, the radium decay family, and the thorium decay family) bear placeholder names using the early naming system devised by Ernest Rutherford. General: From organic chemistry: Exotic atoms: Symbol (chemistry) In relation to the chemical elements, a symbol is a code for a chemical element. Many functional groups have their own chemical symbol, e.g. Ph for the phenyl group, and Me for the methyl group. Chemical symbols for elements normally consist of one or two letters from the Latin alphabet, but can contain three when the element has a systematic temporary name (as of