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
Calcium chlorate with strong sulfuric acid can result in explosions due to the instability of concentrated chloric acid. Contact with ammonium compounds can also cause violent decomposition due to the formation of unstable ammonium chlorate. Calcium chlorate has been used as an herbicide, like sodium chlorate. Calcium chlorate is occasionally used in pyrotechnics, as an oxidizer and pink flame colorant. Its hygroscopic nature and incompatibility with other common pyrotechnic materials (such as sulfur) limit its utility in these applications. Calcium chlorate Calcium chlorate is the calcium salt of chloric acid, with the chemical formula Ca(ClO). Like other chlorates, it is a strong