- published: 18 Feb 2013
- views: 380934
Caesium or cesium ( /ˈsiːziəm/ SEE-zee-əm) is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C (82 °F), which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at (or near) room temperature. Caesium is an alkali metal and has physical and chemical properties similar to those of rubidium and potassium. The metal is extremely reactive and pyrophoric, reacting with water even at −116 °C (−177 °F). It is the least electronegative element having a stable isotope, caesium-133. Caesium is mined mostly from pollucite, while the radioisotopes, especially caesium-137, a fission product, are extracted from waste produced by nuclear reactors.
Two German chemists, Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff, discovered caesium in 1860 by the newly developed method of flame spectroscopy. The first small-scale applications for caesium were as a "getter" in vacuum tubes and in photoelectric cells. In 1967, a specific frequency from the emission spectrum of caesium-133 was chosen to be used in the definition of the second by the International System of Units. Since then, caesium has been widely used in atomic clocks.
Motionless in time
My instincts are a crime
Eventually he'll see
It's swirling into me
The air surrounds my mind
I'm swimming through the sky
Please liquefy my need
I cannot learn to breathe
Can't keep pretending not to hate
Just take me down and shred my fate
This time you've got me bound and tied
My turn is up, your time to hide
These anxious ties restraining me
Forgive me now, I must go free
I'll liquefy your needs
You will not learn to breathe
You will not learn to breathe
There's no escaping now, you see
'Cause time is suffocating me
I cannot learn to breathe
Motionless in time
My instincts are a crime
Eventually he'll see
It's swirling into me
The air surrounds my mind
I'm swimming through the sky
Please liquefy my need
I cannot learn to breathe
(Can't keep pretending not to hate)
Motionless in time
(Just take me down and shred my fate)
My instincts are a crime
(This time you've got me bound and tied)
Eventually he'll see
(My turn is up, your time to hide)
It's swirling into me
(Eventually I'll raise my way)
The air surrounds my mind
(Control the body, choose to stay)
I'm swimming through the sky
(Forgive me now, I must go free)