Symbol

Co

Atomic Number

27

Atomic Mass

58.9332

Family

Group 9 (Viiib) Transition Metal Pronunciation

CO-balt

Overview

Humans have been using compounds of cobalt since at least 1400 B.C. The compounds were used to color glass and glazes blue. In 1735, Swedish chemist Georg Brandt (1694-1768) analyzed a dark blue pigment found in copper ore. Brandt demonstrated that the pigment contained a new element, later named cobalt.

Cobalt is a transition metal, one of several elements found in Rows 4 through 7 between Groups 2 and 13 in the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to each other. Cobalt is located between iron and nickel and shares many chemical and physical properties with these two elements.

The United States has to import all the cobalt it uses. The most important application is in the production of superalloys. Superalloys primarily consist of iron, cobalt, or nickel, with small...