Strontium was first isolated as a metal in 1808 by Humphry Davy using the then newly discovered process of electrolysis. It occurs naturally mainly in the minerals celestine and strontianite, and is mostly mined from these.īoth strontium and strontianite are named after Strontian, a village in Scotland near which the mineral was discovered in 1790 by Adair Crawford and William Cruickshank it was identified as a new element the next year from its crimson-red flame test color.
Strontium has physical and chemical properties similar to those of its two vertical neighbors in the periodic table, calcium and barium. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is exposed to air. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. Strontium is the chemical element with the symbol Sr and atomic number 38.
