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Overview

Cadmium is a transition metal. The transition metals are the elements found in Rows 4 through 7 between Groups 2 and 13 in the periodic table, a chart that shows how elements are related. Cadmium was discovered by German chemist Friedrich Stromeyer (1776-1835) in 1817. It is found most commonly in ores of zinc.

Cadmium is a soft metal that is easily cut with a knife. It resembles zinc in many of its physical and chemical properties. However, it is much less abundant in the Earth's crust than zinc.

By far the most important use of cadmium in the United States is in the production of nicad (nickel-cadmium), or rechargeable, batteries. It is also used in pigments, coatings and plating, manufacture of plastic products, and alloys. An alloy is made by melting and mixing two or more...