When was zinc first discovered

More than half of the zinc used today is to galvanise coat other metals like iron and steel. The protective zinc coating slows the metals from rusting or corroding. If you look closely at metal poles used in a chain-link fence or an outdoor handrail, you can see the protective coating. Zinc compounds have a variety of uses. Zinc chloride is often added to timber as a chemical fire retardant. Zinc sulfide is used in fluorescent bulbs — it converts ultraviolet light to visible light. Zinc oxide is used as a white pigment in paint.

If you have a set of oil paints, check to see if your tube of white paint has the word zinc in its name. Zinc oxide is used in sunscreen. It forms a barrier on the skin and reflects or scatters the UV waves. People who spend a lot of time in the sun — cricket players for example — may use a thick, white zinc cream on their nose or lips. Most sunscreens look white at first but become clear when rubbed on the skin because the zinc oxide consists of tiny nanoparticles.

There was concern that these nanoparticles might be dangerous, but a study showed that the tiny particles do not penetrate the skin or harm skin cells.

On the farm, zinc oxide drenches are used to prevent or treat facial eczema in sheep and cattle. The animals can also receive zinc in a pill form or in their drinking water. Not all science is done in the lab. In the s, Gladys Reid — a farmer, dental nurse and citizen scientist living in Te Aroha — discovered that putting zinc salts in water troughs was the best prevention for facial eczema in livestock.

Gladys recognised the importance of evidence and used control groups to test her ideas. Zinc is an essential trace element for most forms of life. Marggraf reported the finding in great detail, which earned him credit for the discovery, even though several European researchers had already completed the same feat. An English metallurgist, William Champion, had even patented the process years earlier.

Even Champion was drawing on techniques dating back to the Middle Ages, however. Zinc was first used in China by at least A. At first, ancient people used zinc ores mostly to make brass an alloy of copper with zinc. So what is zinc good for?

About half of the 12 million tons produced a year go to galvanization, according to the IZA. Seventeen percent of zinc's annual production goes into brass and bronze, and yet another 17 percent is used in die-casting, the production of metal parts with the use of molds. The rest goes to other manufacturing uses, such as creating roofing materials, or into chemical compounds such as zinc oxide. This white powder shows up in everything from sunscreens to solar cells to nuclear reactors, where it helps prevent corrosion.

Zinc also has a role in health. It's an essential mineral that keeps the body's enzymes humming. Zinc deficiency can slow growth and hamper the immune system, according to the National Institutes of Health. Some of the weirdest side effects of zinc deficiency involve abnormalities of smell and taste, because the metal is crucial to these processes.

Our human bodies use zinc for skin and bone health, sexual maturation and to process food and nutrients, claims the Mineral Information Institute. The human body needs 0. The element zinc was discovered in Germany in by Andreas Marggraf. However, zinc ores were commonly used to make brass as early as to B. Alaska mines the most zinc in the U. Ogdensburg, New Jersey, was once a large producer of zinc, but these mines are now closed.

The U. Zinc has many uses. Primarily used in a variety of coating processes in order to protect other metals from the elements, it is also commonly used in powder and dust form, as an oxide, and for medical purposes. Zinc is found in dry batteries and hardens the brass that coats the U.

Zinc alloys are often combined with other metals in order to strengthen and harden them.