Jeralyn Pigott, age 11, of Sycamore, 11., for her question:

What is antimony?

When the list of basic chemicals was compiled in the last century, this metal was given a slot on the Periodic Table of Elements. Scholars of ancient Italy had named it stibium, and the modern age of science chose Sb for its shorthand symbol. The alchemists of the Middle Ages renamed this metallic element antimony, as it is known to the manufacturers and designers who find dozens of uses for it behind the scenes, where so many items of our everyday lives are created.

Antimony is silvery white, hard and brittle. The handsome metal refuses to allow the air to tarnish it and adds hardness when alloyed with other metals. Alloys of antimony are used to make durable pewter and sturdy metal type for printing. It unites willingly with many other elements and forms compounds used to manufacture dyes and certain medicines. Antimony compounds are used to vulcanize rubber and for making certain kinds of glass. The useful element is taken from an ore called stibnite, most of which is mined in China.