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
Non-metallic inclusions allows the elimination of most natural and foreign inclusions from the metal. However its general content in different steels can vary between wide limits and has a big influence on the metal properties. Non-metallic inclusions, the presence of which defines purity of steel, are classified by chemical and mineralogical content, by stability and by origin. By chemical content non-metallic inclusions are divided into the following groups: The majority of inclusions in metals are oxides and sulfides since the content of phosphorus is very small. Silicates are very detrimental to steels, especially if it has to undergo heat treatment at a