* Strontium is a member of the alkaline earth metals family:
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STRONTIUM / Sr / 38
A silvery, white, relatively soft, easily corroded metal. Four
isotopes are found in nature:
Sr<88/38> / 82.5%
Sr<86/38> / 10%
Sr<87/38> / 7%
Sr<84/38> / 0.5%
All are stable.
atomic weight: 87.62
abundance: 16th
density: 2.54 gm/cc
melting point: 769 C
boiling point: 1,384 C
valence: 2
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Over a hundred thousand tonnes of strontium are produced each year. Although that is a fairly large quantity, it is not all that economically important. It is used in glass production, and its oxides are used in pyrotechnics to produce a distinctive red light. Another application is as a radioactive tracer, using the unstable isotope Sr<87/38>, which has a half-life of 2.8 hours and does not accumulate in the body. The radioactive isotope Sr<90/38>, with a half-life of 29 years, is a notorious constituent of radioactive fallout.
