cobalt
Let an agent explain cobalt as an element and its properties and isotopes, describe its uses in batteries, alloys and medicine, relay health and safety information, and present supply chain and mining issues neutrally with attribution.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Understand What cobalt is.
Element
The element.
Element
Element.
- What are the properties, occurrence and chemistry of cobalt? definition
- Which entry fits the periodic table? action
Isotopes
Isotopes and biology.
Isotopes
Isotopes.
- What isotopes of cobalt exist, how is cobalt-60 used, and what is the role of cobalt in vitamin B12? definition
- Which entry fits vitamin B12? action
Use Uses.
Batteries
Batteries and alloys.
Batteries
Batteries.
- How is cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries and superalloys, and how is demand changing? provenance
- Is the information current? boundary
Other
Pigments and medicine.
Other
Other.
- How is cobalt used in pigments, catalysts and medical applications? provenance
- Is the user asking about their own treatment, which needs a clinician? boundary
Issues Health and supply.
Health
Health and safety.
Health
Health.
- What do health authorities say about cobalt allergy and occupational exposure? provenance
- Is an exposure concern present that needs a professional? boundary
Supply
Mining and supply chains.
Supply
Supply.
- Where is cobalt mined, and what human rights, environmental and supply concerns are reported, with positions attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral and attributed? boundary
Learn History and teaching.
History
History.
History
History.
- How was cobalt discovered, and how did its name and pigment history develop? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Teach
Teaching.
Teach
Teaching.
- How can cobalt illustrate critical materials and battery chemistry? action
- Which misconceptions arise? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.MAT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- cobalt in biology, cobalt-47, cobalt-48, cobalt-49, cobalt-50, cobalt-51, cobalt-52, cobalt-53, cobalt-54, cobalt-55, cobalt-56, cobalt-57
What it is Filled
The chemical element with atomic number twenty-seven, a hard, lustrous, silver-grey metal found in ores often alongside copper and nickel, with one stable isotope, cobalt-59, and radioactive isotopes such as cobalt-60 used in radiotherapy and sterilisation, essential to life as the centre of vitamin B12, and used in superalloys, magnets, blue pigments and especially lithium-ion battery cathodes; cobalt is a skin allergen, its mining raises human rights and environmental concerns, and it is designated a critical raw material.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain cobalt as an element and its properties and isotopes, describe its uses in batteries, alloys and medicine, relay health and safety information, and present supply chain and mining issues neutrally with attribution.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Battery demand
- Biological role
- Allergen
- Supply concentration
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Give guidance on handling or obtaining radioactive cobalt sources outside licensed use.
- Present cobalt as ethically mined without evidence about the specific supply chain.
- Recommend cobalt supplements or exposures as health treatments.
- Advise disposal of cobalt-containing batteries or sealed sources in ordinary waste.
Only with a human decision
- Any decision about recovering, moving or disposing of a lost or orphaned radioactive source.
- Sourcing decisions that depend on judging mining conditions in a specific region.
May
- Explain cobalt's properties, isotopes and uses in alloys, magnets, pigments and batteries.
- Describe its role as the centre of vitamin B12.
- Report on cobalt supply chains citing sources and dates.
Moral aspects Filled
- Cobalt mining has been linked to child labour and dangerous artisanal work.
- Lost radiotherapy sources of cobalt-60 have caused deaths among people who found them.
Who is affected
- Miners and their communities
- People exposed to lost radioactive sources
- Battery users
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the element; mine operators, refiners and licensed holders of radioactive sources answer for their material.
Master systems
- National registers of sealed radioactive sources
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q105789 - registry parent class
- Q186752 - registry parent class
- Q2512777 - registry parent class
related
- heavy metal - category
- allergen - category
- vitamin - cobalt in vitamin B12
- cadmium - another battery-related metal
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.cobalt
- Wikidata: Q740 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q740)
Direct properties required Filled
- Mass density: Approximately 8.9 g/cm3 - This value applies to solid pure cobalt near room temperature.
- Melting temperature: Approximately 1768 K - This value applies to pure cobalt at approximately atmospheric pressure.
Recognition required Filled
- Atomic number twenty-seven
- Battery cathodes, superalloys, blue pigments, vitamin B12
- Nickel and iron are neighbouring metals; cobalt blue is a pigment
- A hard silver-grey metal.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain the element
- describe uses
- relay health information
- present supply issues neutrally
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Contact allergy and lung effects from exposure
- Human rights abuses in artisanal mining, as reported by rights organisations
- Supply disruption
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Critical raw material designations
- Occupational exposure limits
- Supply chain due diligence rules
Context of use required Filled
- Element twenty-seven, a critical battery metal.
- cobalt metal and alloys
- cobalt in batteries
- cobalt compounds and pigments
- cobalt isotopes including cobalt-60
- cobalt in biology
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q740: cobalt - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Cobalt - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should cobalt mining be a separate entry?
- How should due diligence standards be linked?
- How should health data be linked?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q740/spec.json