All practice pages/Interatomic theory/Elements
Element 25, a transition metal
Hidden in almost every steel, in the batteries in your remote, and in the cluster of atoms that lets plants split water.
Period 4, group 7. The other transition metals are tinted, and every cell opens its own article.
Like other transition metals, manganese loses its outer s electrons, and often some d electrons as well, to form positive ions, and it can form more than one kind.
About 0.1% of the crust, mined mostly as pyrolusite (MnO₂) in South Africa, Gabon and Australia. Fields of potato-sized manganese nodules cover large parts of the deep ocean floor.
Carl Wilhelm Scheele recognized in 1774 that the black mineral pyrolusite contained a new element, and his colleague Johan Gottlieb Gahn isolated the metal the same year. The name traces back to magnesia nigra, black magnesia, as pyrolusite was once called.
About 90% goes into steel: manganese removes oxygen and sulfur and makes the metal tougher, and high-manganese steel takes a beating in rail crossings, rock crushers and safes. It also goes into aluminum drink cans, and manganese dioxide is the cathode of ordinary alkaline batteries. Potassium permanganate disinfects and treats water.
Breathing manganese dust or fumes for years, as in some welding and mining work, can damage the nervous system.