calcium-channel blocker, any of a class of drugs used in treating hypertension, angina pectoris, and certain arrhythmias. They prevent the calcium ions needed for muscle contraction from entering the cells of smooth and cardiac muscle. This causes blood vessel walls to relax and blood to flow more freely to the heart, lowering blood pressure and relieving anginal pain. Some calcium-channel blockers, such as Procardia (nifedipine), slow the electrical impulses that run through heart muscle, thus regulating arrhythmias. Cardizem (diltiazem) is a common calcium-channel blocker.

calcium oxide, chemical compound, CaO, a colorless, cubic crystalline or white amorphous substance. It is also called lime, quicklime, or caustic lime, but commercial lime often contains impurities, e.g., silica, iron, alumina, and magnesia. It is prepared by heating calcium carbonate (e.g., limestone) in a special lime kiln to about 500°C; to 600°C;, decomposing it into the oxide and carbon dioxide. Calcium oxide is widely used in industry, e.g., in making porcelain and glass; in purifying sugar; in preparing bleaching powder, calcium carbide, and calcium cyanamide; in water softeners; and in mortars and cements. In agriculture it is used for treating acidic soils (liming). It is incandescent when heated to high temperatures; the Drummond light, or limelight, provides a brilliant white light by heating a cylinder of lime with the flame of an oxyhydrogen torch. Calcium oxide is a basic anhydride, reacting with water to form calcium hydroxide; during the reaction (slaking) much heat is given off and the solid nearly doubles its volume.

calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂, colorless crystal or white powder. It is prepared by reacting calcium oxide (lime) with water, a process called slaking, and is also known as hydrated lime or slaked lime. When heated above 580°C; it dehydrates, forming the oxide. Like the oxide, it has many uses, e.g., in liming soil, in sugar refining, and in preparing other compounds. It is a strong base and is widely used as an inexpensive alkali, often as a suspension in water (milk of lime); it is used in leather tanning to remove hair from hides. It is used in whitewash, mortar, and plaster. It is only slightly soluble in water, about 0.2 grams per 100 cubic centimeters, so its solutions are weakly basic. Limewater is a clear, saturated water solution of calcium hydroxide. It is used in medicine to treat acid burns and as an antacid. Because calcium hydroxide readily reacts with carbon dioxide, CO₂, to form calcium carbonate, a mixture of gases can be tested for the presence of CO₂ by shaking it with limewater in a clear container; if CO₂ is present, a cloudy calcium carbonate precipitate will form.

calcium chloride, CaCl₂, chemical compound that is crystalline, lumpy, or flaky, is usually white, and is very soluble in water. The anhydrous compound is hygroscopic; it rapidly absorbs water and is used to dry gases by passing them through it. Calcium chloride is commercially available usually as the dihydrate, CaCl₂·2H₂O; it is used to melt ice on roads, to control dust, in brines for refrigeration, and as a preservative in foods. It is also used in the monohydrate and hexahydrate forms. Calcium chloride is a byproduct of the Solvay process (a major source of the compound) and is present in natural brines.

calcium carbonate, CaCO₃, white chemical compound that is the most common nonsiliceous mineral. It occurs in two crystal forms: calcite, which is hexagonal, and aragonite, which is rhombohedral. Calcium carbonate is largely insoluble in water but is quite soluble in water containing dissolved carbon dioxide, combining with it to form the bicarbonate Ca(HCO₃)₂. Such reactions on limestone (which is mainly composed of calcite) account for the formation of stalactites and stalagmites in caves. Iceland spar is a pure form of calcium carbonate and exhibits birefringence, or double refraction.

calcium [Lat.,=lime], metallic chemical element; symbol Ca; at. no. 20; at. wt. 40.08; m.p. about 839°C;; b.p. 1,484°C;; sp. gr. 1.55 at 20°C;; valence +2. Calcium is a malleable, ductile, silver-white, relatively soft metal with face-centered, cubic crystalline structure. Chemically it resembles strontium and barium; it is classed with them as an alkaline-earth metal in Group 2 of the periodic table. Calcium is chemically active; it tarnishes rapidly when exposed to air and burns with a bright yellow-red flame when heated, mainly forming the nitride. It reacts directly with water, forming the hydroxide. It combines with other elements, e.g., with oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine, arsenic, phosphorus, and sulfur, forming many compounds.

Although lime (calcium oxide) has been known since ancient times, elemental calcium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808. Today, calcium metal is usually prepared by electrolysis of fused calcium chloride to which a little calcium fluoride has been added. It is used in alloys with other metals, such as aluminum, lead, or copper; in preparation of other metals, such as thorium and uranium, by reduction; and (like barium) in the manufacture of vacuum tubes to remove residual gases.

The metal is of little commercial importance compared to its compounds, which are widely and diversely used. The element is a constituent of lime (see calcium oxide), chloride of lime (bleaching powder), mortar, plaster, cement (see cement, concrete, whiting, putty, precipitated chalk, gypsum, and plaster of Paris. Tremolite, a form of asbestos, is a naturally occurring compound of calcium, magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. Calcium carbide reacts with water to form acetylene gas; it is also used to prepare calcium cyanamide, which is used as a fertilizer. The phosphate is a major constituent of bone ash. The arsenate and the cyanide are used as insecticides. Calcium bicarbonate causes temporary hardness in water; calcium sulfate causes permanent hardness. Generally, calcium compounds show an orange or yellow-red color when held in the Bunsen burner flame.

Although calcium is the fifth most abundant element in the earth's crust, of which it constitutes about 3.6%, it is not found uncombined. It is found widely distributed in its compounds, e.g., Iceland spar, marble, limestone, feldspar, apatite, calcite, dolomite, fluorite, garnet, and labradorite. It is a constituent of most plant and animal matter.

Calcium is essential to the formation and maintenance of strong bones and teeth. In the human adult the bone calcium is chiefly in the form of the phosphate and carbonate salts. A sufficient store of vitamin D in the body is necessary for the proper utilization of calcium. Calcium also functions in the regulation of the heartbeat and in the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin, a necessary step in the clotting of blood.

Atomic Number:	Atomic Number: 20
Atomic Symbol:	Atomic Symbol: Ca
	Name of Element: Calcium
Atomic Weight:	Atomic Weight: 40.08
Electron Configuration:	Electron Configuration: 2 · 8 · 8 · 2

Inadequate supply or metabolism of calcium, the main structural element of bones and teeth. Its metabolism is regulated by vitamin D, phosphorus, and hormones (see parathyroid gland). Calcium in the blood has roles in muscle contraction, nerve-impulse transmission, blood clotting, milk production, hormone secretion, and enzyme function, for which calcium is pulled from the bones if deficiency develops. Chronic deficiency may be a factor in the development of osteoporosis or osteomalacia (softening of bone) and may contribute to hypertension and colon cancer. Severe calcium deficiency (hypocalcemia), usually the result of a metabolic problem rather than a dietary deficiency, causes numbness, tingling, and painful muscle aches and spasms.

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Chemical element, one of the alkaline earth metals, chemical symbol Ca, atomic number 20. The most abundant metallic element in the human body, it is an essential part of bones and teeth and has many physiological functions (see calcium deficiency; tooth). It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust but does not occur naturally in the free state. In its compounds calcium has valence 2. It occurs in limestone, chalk, marble, dolomite, eggshells, pearls, coral, and many marine shells as calcium carbonate, or calcite; in apatite as calcium phosphate; in gypsum as calcium sulfate; and in many other minerals. It is used as an alloying agent and in other metallurgical applications; its alloy with lead is used in cable sheathing and grids for batteries. Calcite is used as a lime source, a filler, a neutralizer, and an extender; in pure form it is used in baking powder and as an antacid and calcium supplement. Calcium oxide (lime) and its product after water addition, calcium hydroxide (slaked lime), are important industrially. Other significant compounds are calcium chloride (a drying agent), calcium hypochlorite (a bleach), calcium sulfate (gypsum and plaster of paris), and calcium phosphate (a plant food and stabilizer for plastics).

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