A soft, silvery-white ductile, metallic element that is the most electropositive and alkaline of the elements and is used in atomic clocks and photoelectric cells and to catalyze hydrogenation of some organic compounds. The fundamental unit of time in the International System, the second, is based on the frequency of radiation between two energy states in an atom of the Cs-133 isotope. Atomic number 55; atomic weight 132.905; melting point 28.44°C; boiling point 671°C; specific gravity 1.873; valence 1. See Periodic Table.