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Sunday 20 October 2013

Calcium

Calcium is an essential component of bones, leaves, milk and teeth. It forms 1.5% of the human body by mass.

The element name "calcium" comes from the Latin word "calcis" meaning "lime."

Calcium isn't found free in nature, but it can be purified into a soft silvery-white alkaline earth metal.


Calcium has been known since the first century, when the ancient Romans were known to make lime from calcium oxide.

Though calcium has been known for thousands of years, it was not purifed as an element until 1808 by Sir Humphrey Davy

Calcium is used for making cement and cheese, removing nonmetallic impurities from alloys, and as a reduction agent in the preparation of other metals.

Calcium is the fifth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, present at a level of about 3% in the oceans and soil.

During pregnancy, the baby growing in its mother’s womb needs plenty of calcium to develop its skeleton. If the mother doesn’t get enough calcium, her baby will draw what it needs from the mother’s bones. Women often lose 3 to 5 percent of their bone mass during breastfeeding, and recover after

Half of a cup of figs will give you just as much calcium as half a cup of milk.


People who meet their calcium need reduce their risk of developing kidney stones.

Black bears have a way of recycling calcium into their bones while they hibernate so they wake up just as strong as when they nodded off.

Source About.com

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