Barium a day. Barium also has 10 meta states, out of which barium-133m1 is the most stable with a half-life of about 39 hours. Alchemists in the early Middle Ages knew about some barium minerals. Smooth pebble-like stones of mineral baryte were found in volcanic rock near Bologna, Italy, and so were called "Bologna stones." Alchemists were attracted to them because after exposure to light they would glow for years. The phosphorescent properties of baryte heated with organics were described by V. Casciorolus in 1602. Carl Scheele determined that baryte contained a new element in 1774, but could not isolate barium,
Pewter Pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy. It is traditionally composed of 85–99% tin, mixed with copper, antimony, bismuth, and sometimes silver or lead, although the use of lead is less common today. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is more common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. Pewter has a low melting point, around , depending on the exact mixture of metals. The word "pewter" is probably a variation of the word "spelter", a term for zinc alloys (originally a colloquial name for zinc). Pewter was first used around the beginning