Manganese than one minute. The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, Mn, is electron capture and the primary mode after is beta decay. Manganese also has three meta states. Manganese is part of the iron group of elements, which are thought to be synthesized in large stars shortly before the supernova explosion. Mn decays to Cr with a half-life of 3.7 million years. Because of its relatively short half-life, Mn is relatively rare, produced by cosmic rays impact on iron. Manganese isotopic contents are typically combined with chromium isotopic contents and have found application in isotope geology and
Chemical chameleon Chemical chameleon The chemical chameleon is a redox reaction, well known from classroom demonstrations, that exploits the dramatic color changes associated with the various oxidation states of manganese. Glauber reported the first description of the production of potassium permanganate when he noted that manganese dioxide (as the mineral pyrolusite) could be reacted at high temperatures with alkali to obtain a material that dissolved in water to give a green solution which slowly shifted to a violet-red. This process, similar to that still used in the production of potassium permanganate, oxidized manganese dioxide to potassium manganate which, acidified by carbon dioxide