Bismuth Rainbow Crystal Staircase - 1.55"
Bismuth Rainbow Crystal Staircase - 1.55"
Bismuth is an element (Bi 83) best known for its unusual staircase shape, the result of bismuth atoms attaching to the edge of a rapidly growing crystal. This is called hoppering, when atoms are drawn to the edge of a structure, creating a lattice formation.
This specimen is a Bismuth Rainbow Crystal, measuring 1.55". While bismuth's practical uses are limited beyond some pharmaceuticals, the element's utterly unique colors and shape continue to captivate the mind.
📸 Closeup shot of bismuth
Up the bismuth staircase
With its rainbow-tinted staircases, bismuth is unlike any other element on Earth. These pieces are called hopper crystals and form when atoms attach themselves to the edge of an atomic structure as a crystal rapidly forms. What you see in bismuth is really an expression of the element at its most minuscule scale, a peak into the specimen at the atomic level!
📸 Bismuth sample in hand
This specimen is a Bismuth Rainbow Crystal cluster and shows off bismuth's psychedelic colors and otherworldly architecture. Each bismuth cluster is shipped in a sturdy carton with an informational card which serves as certificate of authenticity. You can see all the currently available bismuth specimens as well as our bismuth portraits in the collection below.
MORE ABOUT BISMUTH
📸 Vietnam's Núi Pháo mine, a source of Bismuth
Bismuth, element 83, is known best for its multicolor formations of a deep, staircase-like structure. These fractal patterns are known as hopper crystals, identifiable by their hollow step lattices. When bismuth cools it forms in a rhombohedral structure with the edges of the formation crystallizing at a much faster rate than the center of the faces. This pulls material away from the interior and leaves gaps in the structure, causing the final product to appear hollow.
The crystal’s uniquely iridescent shine also occurs during its formation process. While the metal’s true color is a white silver, it can oxidize during the cooling process to form a thin layer of film. This film interferes with light waves, giving bismuth its colorful appearance, similar in process to the rainbow glimmer of a soap bubble. While these formations do not appear often in nature, bismuth’s relatively low melting point of 520 °F means it is possible to create synthetic bismuth crystals at home with the right materials.
📸 Radioactive decay of Bismuth-213.
While it can be used as a replacement for lead or as a pigment in cosmetics, bismuth is most commonly used for medicinal purposes in the compound bismuth subsalicylate, known under the brand name Pepto-Bismol. It is not well understood how bismuth subsalicylate operates when ingested, but it is thought that it stimulates the absorption of fluid and electrolytes within the intestine while inhibiting inflammations.
While long since thought to have been the heaviest nonradioactive element, researchers in 2003 discovered that the naturally occurring isotope of the bismuth did in fact undergo alpha decay and calculated a half-life of 1.9×1019 years. Luckily, this half-life is about a billion times longer than the current age of the universe, meaning that you won’t have to worry about any radioactive activity from Pepto-Bismol for a very, very long time.
Further Reading
Agricola, Georgius. De Natura Fossilium (Textbook of Mineralogy). Geological Society of America, 1955.
“Bismuth Subsalicylate.” DrugBank, 30 June 2007, www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB01294.
Bismuth: The Mineral Native Bismuth Information and Pictures, 1997, www.minerals.net/mineral/bismuth.aspx.
de Marcillac, P., Coron, N., Dambier, G. et al. Experimental detection of α-particles from the radioactive decay of natural bismuth. Nature 422, 876–878 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01541
Wolfram, Stephen. “Note (c) for The Growth of Crystals: A New Kind of Science: Online by Stephen Wolfram [Page 993].” Wolfram Science and Stephen Wolfram's 'A New Kind of Science', Wolfram Media, Inc., 2002, www.wolframscience.com/nks/notes-8-2--hopper-crystals/.
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