Why is arsenic a notorious element?
Do you know that arsenic is called the ‘king of poisons’ and the ‘poison of kings’? It is a very toxic element. From the time of the Roman Empire, all the way to the Victorian era in the 19th century, the element had been used for murder and suicide especially among the aristocrats. History is full of stories of both royalty and commoners carrying out assassination attempts for personal gain using the odourless and tasteless compounds of arsenic. These qualities make it a perfect poison, which can kill anyone quickly if taken too much.
However, despite its reputation as a lethal substance, arsenic still holds a very important place in the natural world. The element has been used in the medical field for centuries.
Arsenic is combined with gallium to produce gallium arsenide for use in high speed electronics and optoelectronics. Other applications for arsenic include metal alloys and glass making.
Arsenic has many allotropes. Allotropes are different structures of the same element. Arsenic was first isolated by Albertus Magnus in 1250. The atomic number of the element is 33, and the atomic symbol is As.
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