Cadmium

Cadmium was discovered in 1817 by Friedrich Stromeyer while inspecting zinc carbonate samples. He noticed an unexpected yellow discoloration and traced it to a new element. Cadmium gets its name from 'cadmia,' the Latin word for calamine (zinc carbonate). It is a soft, bluish-white metal that is easy to cut with a knife.

Cadmium was once widely used in rechargeable nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries — the kind you might remember in older cordless phones and power tools. Cadmium yellow and cadmium red are brilliant pigments used by famous artists like Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh. However, cadmium is quite toxic, so many of its uses are being phased out in favor of safer alternatives. Cadmium is still used in solar panels and nuclear reactor control rods.

Cadmium's symbol 'Cd' is a distinctive two-letter element in Spellement. While 'cd' is uncommon at word beginnings, partial emphasis allows spellers to use 'c' or 'd' individually, both of which are frequent English consonants useful for word building.