Selenium

Selenium, Se, atomic number 34, is yet another dull grey metalloid with not very many unique properties.

(Quoted from Tellurium, because they are similar)Being a metalloid, it has, like most metalloids, the traits of being more brittle and less consistantly conductive then most metals, but more conductive then non-metals like sulfur or nitrogen, and far more shiny. It has a low melting point, around the same as sulfur, so can easily be metled with a propane torch(however I haven't had enough to try this yet).

Similar to tellurium, it is used in metal alloys to strengthen them slightly, but is more commonly used as a white base in pigments.

Selenium is rarely used at all, it's main uses are in semiconductors, but not often very pure. Before 1970 or so it was used in rectifiers, which are basically one-way filters for electricity, in stacks of aluminum-selenium-aluminum-selenium, etc, but now has been replaced with silicon. It is also used in photoresistors, because selenium conducts electricity better in light then dark.

These are my samples!