// MATTER · ELEMENT 51 / 118atoms.no/elements
Sb51
Antimony
Sb·Z 51·Metalloid·121.8·⭕ 7A · D Minor
▸ The reading
interpretive · artAncient eye-paint and a modern mattress share a name, not an element: Sb comes from stibium, the classical word for kohl, though analysed Egyptian kohl is lead. Antimony trioxide does retard the flame in furniture. It expands as it freezes, one of the table's rare dissenters from contraction. Cosmetics to fire-safety is a strange but fully documented arc.
The science below is cited as science; the symbolic layers are flagged as interactive art.
⚜ Periodic Frequency
7AD Minor
a seat struck in brass — testimony, not prediction
the seat has its own room on ⭕ THE OVAL TABLE — tap the code
▸ The lenses
▸ Discovery
Ancient Egyptian eye-paint (kohl) was Sb₂S₃; Vannoccio Biringuccio first described it as a distinct metalloid · Multiple / Italy · ~3000 BCE (recognized as element 1540s)
▸ Stellar origin
s-process + r-processMixed origin — neutron capture in AGB stars and rapid neutron capture in neutron-star mergers both leave fingerprints in antimony's isotope ratios.
▸ Reactivity
Brittle, silvery; expands on freezing (like water and bismuth)One of the few elements that get denser when liquid than solid — useful for casting fine detail without shrinkage cracks.
▸ Applications
- Flame retardants (Sb₂O₃)
- Lead-acid battery hardener
- Type-metal alloy (with Pb and Sn)
- Semiconductor doping (Si and Ge)
▸ Curiosity
Ancient Egyptian eye-paint (kohl) was antimony sulfide — Cleopatra's eyeliner is now a flame-retardant additive.
▸ Related readings
a resonance drawn between readings — not a claim that they share an origin.