calcium
nounUS /ˈkælsi.əm/ · South-Asia /ˈkalʃɪəm/
Etymology Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from Latin calx (“lime, limestone”) because it occurs in limestone. By surface analysis, calc- + -ium.
1
The chemical element (symbol Ca) with atomic number 20: a soft, silvery-white alkaline earth metal which occurs naturally as carbonate in limestone and as silicate in many rocks.
- Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:[…]. The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 30 Nov 2014:
- “This material has a specific hardness and is chemically very stable. It forms naturally from calcium alone, but bacteria accelerate the transformation into calcium carbonate,” explains Alejandro Montesinos, head of the Decarbonization, Climate Change, and Circular Economy Research Group at Tec de Monterrey and a member of the Institute of Advanced Materials and Sustainable Manufacturing.2024 August 6, Ricardo Treviño, “Self-Healing Concrete Help Buildings Seal Themselves”, in TecScience, archived from the original on 19 Jan 2025:
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An atom of this element.
- Derived terms
94 terms
bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide, calcaemia, calc-, calci-, calcein, calcemia, calcic, calcio-, calcium-40, calcium-42, calcium-43, calcium-44, calcium-45, calcium-46, calcium-48, calcium acetate, calcium arsenate, calcium benzoate, calcium bilirubinate, calcium cannon, calcium carbide, calcium carbonate, calcium channel blocker, calcium chloride, calcium chromate, calcium copper tetrasilicate, calcium cyanamide, calcium diglutamate, calcium dihydrogen phosphate, calcium dioxide, calcium disodium EDTA, calcium ferrocyanide, calcium fluoride, calcium formate, calcium fumarate, calcium gluconate, calcium guanylate, calcium hydride, calcium hydroxide, calcium hypochlorite, calcium inosinate, calcium lactate, calcium light, calciumlike, calcium magnesium carbonate, calcium magnesium silicate, calcium malate, calcium montmorillonite, calcium-montmorillonite, calcium nitrate, calcium nitride, calcium oxalate, calcium oxide, calcium permanganate, calcium peroxide, calcium phosphate, calcium phosphide, calcium platinate, calcium polyphosphate, calcium propionate, calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease, calcium silicate, calcium sodium polyphosphate, calcium sorbate, calcium sulfate, calcium sulphate, calcium sulfide, calcium sulphide, calcium sulphite, calcium tartrate, calcium tungstate, calcrete, caldesmon, calfluxin, calprotectin, calretinin, calsulfhydryl, cinacalcet, decacalcium, dicalcium, fosamprenavir calcium, heptacalcium, hexacalcium, monocalcium, nonacalcium, noncalcium, octacalcium, organocalcium, oxycalcium, pentacalcium, proto-calcium, radiocalcium, tetracalcium, tricalcium