What element has the symbol 'Ba'?

The story behind the answer

Ba is the symbol for barium, an alkaline earth metal with atomic number 56. Don’t confuse it with B (boron), Br (bromine), or Bi (bismuth). The pairing Ba → Barium follows the common pattern where many alkaline earths use the first two letters (Ca–calcium, Sr–strontium, Ba–barium).

Barium’s name comes from the Greek “barys,” meaning heavy—fitting for a dense metal. In medicine, barium sulfate is used in “barium swallow” X‑ray imaging because it’s opaque to X‑rays yet safe to ingest. Barium compounds also color fireworks green. Memory tip: “Ba = BAr-ium, the heavy ‘bar’ metal,” or “Think of a BArium ‘bar’ showing up clearly on an X‑ray.”