Is calcium the most important element in our body?

             Imagine humans and animals without bones and teeth! The thing that makes us walk, stand, sit and do anything with our body is this skeletal structure. Calcium is the element essentially necessary for the health of both our teeth and bones.

             Calcium regulates the electricity that passes through the nervous system, and helps muscle contractions in the body. This element plays a vital role in causing contractions in the heart. Ninety-nine per cent of the calcium in our body is accommodated in our teeth and bones. It is the most abundant metallic element in the human body. And thus, calcium assumes great importance in our body.

            The human race has used calcium for thousands of years. Cornish chemist Sir Humphry Davy successfully isolated this silver-coloured metal for the first time in 1808. Calcium is soft, and is always found combined with other elements in nature. It is found in many rocks such as limestone, chalk, and marble. Calcium is also found in minerals such as gypsum and fluorite.

            Calcium compounds are used in the manufacture of cement, glass, lime, bricks, and paint, and as a reduction agent in the preparation of other metals.

            Its atomic number is 20, and the symbol is Ca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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