2) Element symbol: Be
 

3) Number of electrons, protons, and neutrons: 4 electron, 4 proton, 5 neutrons
 

4) Atomic number: 4
 

5) Atomic mass: 9.01218
 

6) Characteristics:

Beryllium is a gray metal, more brittle than magnesium. It tarnishes only slightly in air, becoming covered with a thin layer oxide. The ability of beryllium to scratch glass is usually ascribed to this oxide coating.

Beryllium compounds are generally white (or colorless in solution) and show great similarity in chemical properties to the corresponding compounds in aluminum.
 

7)

History:

Beryllium was named after its chief mineral, beryl, an aluminum beryllium silicate. It was discovered as an oxide, now known as beryllia, in 1797 by the French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1763-1829). The free element was first isolated in 1828 independently by Friedrick Wöhler and Antonine Alaxander Brutus Bussy (1794-1882). Because the soluble compounds are sweet-tasting, the new element was first called glucinium.

Three things made from the element:

Beryllium and its oxide are being utilized more and more in industry. It is used in

- computers

- lasers

- televisions

- oceanographic instruments

- person body armor
 

8) Isotopes:

The only naturally occurring isotope is the stable beryllium-9. Artificial isotopes have been produced, such as beryllium-10 (2,700,000-year half-life) and beryllium-8.
 

9) Beryllium has an exclusive +2 oxidation state in all of its compounds. The compounds are generally colorless and have a distinctly sweet taste from whence came the element's former name glucinium. Soluble compounds in the form of solutions, dry dust, or fumes are toxic; they may produce dermatitis or, when inhaled, acute effects similar to those caused by the poison gas phosgene.
 

10) Beryllium melts at about 1287 °C (about 2349 °F) and boils at about 3000 °C (about 5432 °F).