Calcium

General properties
Name, symbol, number	calcium, Ca, 20
Element category	alkaline earth metal
Group, period, block	2, 4, s
Standard atomic weight	40.078(4)
Electron configuration	[Ar] 4s2 2, 8, 8, 2
History
Discovery	Humphry Davy (1808)
First isolation	Humphry Davy (1808)

Calcium is the chemical element with symbol Ca and atomic number 20. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. Calcium is also the fifth-most-abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate.

Calcium is essential for living organisms, in particular in cell physiology, where movement of the calcium ion Ca²⁺ into and out of the cytoplasm functions as a signal for many cellular processes. As a major material used in mineralization of bone, teeth and shells, calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals.

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