Bromine

What is bromine?
Let's get straight to the point in today's post- element 25, bromine! Bromine was discovered by Antoine J. Balard of France in 1826, and means 'stench' in Greek. And it is no surprise! Bromine, when in liquid form, smells exactly like bleach. Bromine was almost discovered by two other scientists before Balard published his studies... but they did not take too much note of it, therefor making Balard the true founder of bromine.

Bromine is a reddish-brown rust colored liquid that has a metallic luster in solid form. In 1825, German scientist Justus von Liebig was sent to sample the water in a nearby town, and he came up with a small vial of bromine. Mistaking it as a mixture of iodine and chlorine (because of the smell), Liebig thought nothing of it until the following year, when Balard's studies came out.


Scientists must be careful when handling bromine- the stinky element is highly toxic and can cause corrosion burns when exposed to skin. Almost ironically, bromine is used in many fire retardant compounds, and is also used in sedatives.

Even more shockingly, the royal purple dye used in most clothing has a base compound of bromine! It is also used in leaded fuels and gave Herbert Dow, founder of the Dow Chemical Company, a start to his business: separating bromine from briny waters in the Midwestern United States.