Understanding Calcium: Its Discovery, Properties, and Benefits

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Chemistry is used in everyday life, whether it is known it or not. As students, it is important to know how elements contribute to everyday life. Some elements are helpful, while others are deadly. Calcium is one of those elements. It is important to know how it was discovered and what its properties are. It is also necessary to know what others have researched about calcium. Finally, all this knowledge would be nothing without the benefits of calcium. Because of its importance, it is vital to know who discovered the element calcium and what its properties are. Calcium was used by the Romans to make lime. But it was isolated and accepted as an element in 1808 by Englishman Sir Humphrey Davy. He discovered it by studying the limestone and marble used in the past. Calcium is an alkaline earth metal; it has the symbol Ca, its atomic number is 20, and its atomic mass is 40.08g. Calcium is a silver-white, soft metal, but it is …show more content…

There are two areas that calcium is used the most, food and manufacturing. First, calcium is used in the food industry in many areas. It is found in dairy products, dark leafy greens, almonds, and soybeans to name a few. Consuming calcium-rich foods can help people lose weight, help fight cancer, and help decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes. These are just a few of the many uses of calcium in food products and their benefits. Calcium is also used in the production of construction materials. Calcium carbonate, also known as limestone, is used for making cement. Live Science states in their article on calcium, “Gypsum, or calcium sulfate, is used in making plaster and also "plaster of Paris," a heavy white powder that, when mixed with water, hardens into a cast to set fractured bones.” They also say that calcium in its purest form can be used as a reducing agent in preparing other metals. These are just a few of the many uses for

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