chemistry

Strontium carbonate

Strontium carbonate is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Strontium carbonate rather than just read about it. In short: Strontium carbonate (SrCO3) is the carbonate salt of strontium that has the appearance of a white or grey powder. It occurs in nature as the mineral strontianite.

Key takeaways

Strontium carbonate belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Strontium carbonate to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Strontium carbonate from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Strontium carbonate (SrCO3) is the carbonate salt of strontium that has the appearance of a white or grey powder. It occurs in nature as the mineral strontianite.

Chemical properties Strontium carbonate is a white, odorless, tasteless powder. Being a carbonate, it is a weak base and therefore is reactive with acids. It is otherwise stable and safe to work with. It is practically insoluble in water (0.1 mg/100mL). The solubility is increased significantly if the water is saturated with carbon dioxide, to 100 mg/100mL.

Preparation Other than the natural occurrence as a mineral, strontium carbonate is prepared synthetically in one of two processes, both of which start with naturally occurring celestine, a mineral form of strontium sulfate (SrSO4). In the "black ash" process, celesite is roasted with coke at 1,100–1,300 °C (2,010–2,370 °F) to form strontium sulfide. The sulfate is reduced, leaving the sulfide:

SrSO4 + 2 C → SrS + 2 CO2 A mixture of strontium sulfide with either carbon dioxide gas or sodium carbonate then leads to formation of a precipitate of strontium carbonate.

SrS + H2O + CO2 → SrCO3 + H2S SrS + Na2CO3 → SrCO3 + Na2S In the "direct conversion" or double-decomposition method, a mixture of celesite and sodium carbonate is treated with steam to form strontium carbonate with substantial amounts of undissolved other solids. This material is mixed with hydrochloric acid, which dissolves the strontium carbonate to form a solution of strontium chloride. Carbon dioxide or sodium carbonate is then used to re-precipitate strontium carbonate, as in the black-ash process.

Uses

The most common use is as an inexpensive colorant in fireworks. Strontium and its salts emit a brilliant red color in flame. Unlike other strontium salts, the carbonate salt is generally preferred because of its cost and the fact that it is not hygroscopic. Its ability to neutralize acid is also very helpful in pyrotechnics. Another similar application is in road flares. Strontium carbonate is used for electronic applications. It is used for manufacturing color television receivers to absorb electrons resulting from the cathode. It is used in the preparation of iridescent glass, luminous paint, strontium oxide, and strontium salts and in refining sugar and certain drugs. It is widely used in the ceramics industry as an ingredient in glazes. It acts as a flux and also modifies the color of certain metallic oxides. It has some properties similar to barium carbonate. It is also used in the manufacturing of strontium ferrites for permanent magnets which are used in loudspeakers and door magnets. Strontium carbonate is also used for making some superconductors such as BSCCO and also for electroluminescent materials where it is first calcined into SrO and then mixed with sulfur to make SrS:x where x is typically europium. This is the "blue/green" phosphor which is sensitive to frequency and changes from lime green to blue.Other dopants can also be used such as gallium, or yttrium to get a yellow/orange glow instead. Because of its status as a weak Lewis base, strontium carbonate can be used to produce many different strontium compounds by simple use of the corresponding acid.

Microbial precipitation The cyanobacteria Calothrix, Synechococcus and Gloeocapsa can precipitate strontian calcite in groundwater. The strontium exists as strontianite in solid solution within the host calcite with the strontium content of up to one percent.

References

External links International Chemical Safety Card 1695

Illustrations

Strontium carbonate: Nitric acid reacts with strontium carbonate to form strontium nitrate. — Nitric acid reacts with strontium carbonate to form strontium nitrate.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Strontium carbonate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Strontium carbonate claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Strontium carbonate before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Strontium carbonate ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Strontium carbonate

In research: Strontium carbonate appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Strontium carbonate in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Strontium carbonate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Carbonates, Pyrotechnic colorants, Strontium compounds, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Strontium carbonate outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Strontium carbonate in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Strontium carbonate means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Strontium carbonate out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Strontium carbonate in simple terms?

Strontium carbonate (SrCO3) is the carbonate salt of strontium that has the appearance of a white or grey powder. It occurs in nature as the mineral strontianite.

Why does Strontium carbonate matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Strontium carbonate?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Strontium carbonate.