Chemistry: WebElements Periodic Table: Professional Edition: Calcium: biological information

Calcium	calcium	Calcium	calcio	Cálcio	calcio	Kalcium

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Calcium

20
Ca
40.078(4)

Biological information

Biological role

Here are a few notes about the biological role of calcium.

Calcium is essential for all life. It forms part of cell walls and bones. It is importnat for blood clotting.

Levels in humans

The following gives the abundances of the elements in humans.

	Human abundance [/ppb by weight]: 14000000
	Human abundance [/atoms (C = 1000000)]: 2200000

How much calcium is in your body?

You can use this form to calculate how much calcium your body contains (provided your browser supports JavaScript). Just enter your weight in either kilograms or pounds and click the "Calculate" button. You must enter a number, not text! Thanks to Mike Piff (The University of Sheffield) for providing the JavaScript. Elements for which there are no data will always give a value of zero for the weight, no matter what you put in the weight box.

log abundance in humans

Hazards and Risks

Here are a few notes about the hazards and risks associated with calcium.

Calcium metal presents a fire hazard but its salts are relatively harmless.

calcium
Key data; description Index for calcium History Pictures
calcium around us
Uses Geology Biology
calcium compounds
Reactions of calcium Compounds Bond enthalpies Radii in compounds Lattice energies Reduction potentials
nuclear properties
NMR Naturally occurring isotopes Radioisotopes
elemental properties
Bulk properties (density, resistivity, etc.) Thermal properties (melting point, etc.) Thermodynamic properties Crystal structure
electronic properties
Electronic configuration Ionization energies Electron affinities Electronegativities Effective nuclear charges Electron binding energies Atom radii Valence shell radii
Books
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Document served: Friday 9th May, 2008