Today, I will tell you about such metal as zirconium.

今天我要跟你們介紹鋯這個金屬。

Zirconium is a transition metal, which is located in the 4th group in the periodic table of chemical elements.

鋯是一種過渡金屬，它位於元素週期表中的第四族。

Externally, zirconium looks very similar to titanium, but what makes it different to it is zirconium's slightly different properties.

在外表上，鋯看起來和鈦非常相似，不過他們之間的區別在於些微不同的屬性。

The density of zirconium is 30% higher than that of titanium.

鋯的密度相較於鈦高出了 30%。

This metal is relatively soft and is easy to forge.

這種金屬相對軟且容易塑形。

And from a chemical point of view, zirconium is very stable.

從化學的角度來看，鋯是很穩定的。

It does not react with most acids, such as the concentrated hydrochloric acid or the concentrated nitric acids.

它和大部分的酸，像是濃鹽酸或濃硝酸，都不會產生化學反應。

Even if you pass an electric current through the acid and connect zirconium to the anode, the metal will still not dissolve in acid.

即使你透過酸性溶液傳送電流，並把鋯連接到陽極，鋯這種金屬還是不會融於酸性融溶液之中。

The only acids in which zirconium can dissolve is the concentrated hydrofluoric acid, which I don't have for safety reasons, and the sulfuric acid.

少數可以讓鋯溶解其中的酸是濃氫氟酸 (因為安全考量，我沒有這種酸)和硫酸。

And even then, zirconium still dissolves very slowly in sulfuric acid and only under strong heating.

而且即使如此，鋯在硫酸中還是溶解得很慢，而且只有在高溫下才會溶解。

If you heat a piece of zirconium with a burner to make it really red, zirconium will cover itself in a dense film of zirconium dioxide, after which this metal becomes fearless (like Hulk), because the oxide film protects it from any further oxidation.

如果你用燃燒器加熱一塊鋯來把它燒得很紅，就會形成一層緻密的二氧化鋯薄膜，覆蓋住這塊鋯。之後這塊鋯就會好像綠巨人浩克一樣無所畏懼，因為那層薄膜會保護它不再繼續氧化。

Zirconium has an interesting property – pyrophoricity.

鋯有個很有趣的特性─它會自燃。

That is, if you rub it on a file, all those small zirconium particles will light up in air, forming bright sparks.

也就是說，如果你在一個銼刀上磨它，這些小小的鋯分子就會在空氣中自行燃燒，形成明亮的火花。

Also, zirconium powder does burn very brightly in air, making it to the first place of metals with the highest combustion temperatures having one of about 4650 °C.

另外，粉末狀的鋯在空氣中燃燒時會發出強光。它的沸點最高可以到攝氏 4650 度，是金屬中沸點最高的。

At this temperature, the product of combustion of zirconium in air, zirconium dioxide, emits a significant amount of light that is used very widely in pyrotechnics and the old lamps for photography.

在這個溫度之下，鋯在空氣中燃燒的產物 (二氧化鋯) 會散發出強光，因而廣泛使用於煙火業和舊時攝影用的燈具中。

However, zirconium also has disadvantages.

然而，鋯也有其缺點。

Due to its inability to absorb slow neutrons and its high melting temperature, zirconium is used for the construction of nuclear reactors.

由於鋯不能吸收慢中子，並且熔點高，因此鋯被用於建造核子反應器。

In an emergency situation, when the reactor overheating, zirconium may begin to react with water in the reactor, releasing explosive hydrogen, which is exactly what happened at Fukushima in 2011.

在反應器過熱這種緊急狀況發生時，鋯可能會開始跟反應器中的水反應，繼而釋放氫氣。這就是 2011 年時福島發生的情況。

The released hydrogen caused the explosion of the building with the reactor.

釋放出來的氫氣導致了反應器所在的建築爆炸。

Also, pure zirconium is used as a gas absorber or a getter in vacuum tubes and as a component of alloys for medical equipment.

此外，純鋯也在真空管中負責吸收氣體或獲取氣體，並作為醫療設備合金的成分。

Zirconium dioxide is used for the creation of heat-resistant ceramics, ceramic knives and dental fillings.

二氧化鋯則是用於製造耐熱陶瓷、陶瓷刀和牙科填充物。

Some time ago a lot of people were promoting zirconium bracelets practically as a universal cure for any sickness.

不久前，很多人都在推銷鋯手環，號稱幾乎可以治療任何疾病。

However, studies have shown that the positive effects from wearing the bracelet are only caused by the strong belief of the person wearing it that it would work, i.e. the placebo effect.

然而，研究顯示，佩戴手環有正面效益僅僅是因為配戴者自己強烈相信手環會有用，就像安慰劑效應一樣。

Biologically though zirconium doesn't affect human health.

不過生物上來講，鋯不會影響到人體健康。

Now you know a little bit more about one of the awesome metals, if you would like to support a continuous production of science videos like this one, please support channel on Patreon.

現在你對這種令人讚嘆的金屬元素又更有了解了。如果你會想要支持一系列這樣的科學影片，請在 Patreon 上支持本頻道。

Link in the video description.

連結在資訊欄。