Barium green color. Barium sulfate is used as an insoluble additive to oil well drilling fluid, as well as in a purer form, as X-ray radiocontrast agents for imaging the human gastrointestinal tract. The soluble barium ion and soluble compounds are poisonous, and have been used as rodenticides. Barium is a soft, silvery-white metal, with a slight golden shade when ultrapure. The silvery-white color of barium metal rapidly vanishes upon oxidation in air yielding a dark gray oxide layer. Barium has a medium specific weight and good electrical conductivity. Ultrapure barium is very difficult to prepare, and therefore many properties of
Potassium chlorate Potassium chlorate Potassium chlorate is a compound containing potassium, chlorine and oxygen, with the molecular formula KClO. In its pure form, it is a white crystalline substance. It is the most common chlorate in industrial use. It is used On the industrial scale, potassium chlorate is produced by the Liebig process: passing chlorine into hot calcium hydroxide, subsequently adding potassium chloride: The electrolysis of KCl in aqueous solution is also used sometimes, in which elemental chlorine formed at the anode react with KOH "in situ". The low solubility of KClO in water causes the salt to conveniently isolate itself from