Category Elements

            Do you know what makes toothpaste manufacturers confidently declare that their product can help you prevent tooth-decay? There is an ingredient in toothpaste that keeps your teeth strong. Fluorine is the element that prevents dental cavities. And fluorine is present in toothpastes in the form of soluble fluoride.

            George Gore, an English chemist, is one among the many scientists, who tried to isolate fluorine. However, Gore’s experiment ended up in an explosion when the fluorine that he had produced reacted with hydrogen in his lab. Many years later, Ferdinand Frederic Henri Moissan, a French chemist, successfully isolated fluorine in 1886. And his discovery led him to win the Nobel Prize in 1906.

            It is very difficult to store fluorine because of its corrosive nature. Fluorine gas quickly attacks most metals, and is highly reactive. And for this reason, fluorine is usually found only in compounds. Due to its exploding tendency, fluorine is maintained in hydrofluoric acid. Atomic number of the element is 9, and the symbol is F.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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               When it comes to maintaining life on earth, there is no element as important as oxygen. Without this element, we would be dead in no time! Invisible and odourless, it quietly continues to sustain and nourish life in nature. No doubt, oxygen is synonymous with life.

               Oxygen makes up one fifth of the earth’s atmosphere. It comes third in terms of its abundance by mass in the entire Universe. The reason for its high concentration on the Earth’s atmosphere is the oxygen cycle in our planet. It is driven by photosynthesis of plants. The density level of oxygen becomes less, as altitude increases. Mountaineers find it difficult to breathe and have to slowly adjust to the decreasing oxygen levels as they climb higher. Astronauts carry their oxygen when they travel to outer space because there is no oxygen there.

               At the same time, too much oxygen is also not good. Do you know that humans cannot survive if the oxygen level goes beyond 25 per cent? The same applies when the level goes below 17 per cent as well. Its atomic number is eight, and the symbol is O.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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               A common element in the universe, nitrogen ranks seventh in abundance. Normally, nitrogen is found as an odourless, colourless gas.

               This element is found in all living things. About three per cent of the mass of the human body is this element. After oxygen, carbon and hydrogen, three vital constituent elements of the human body, nitrogen is the fourth abundant element in humans.

               Nitrogen is an important element when it comes to its industrial utility. In food storage facilities and to keep packaged foods fresh, nitrogen gas is used. The element has a major role in the making of certain electronic parts of many useful applications.

               Have you heard about laughing gas? It is in fact, a chemical compound of nitrogen, called nitrous oxide. The compound’s ability to relax and brighten up people is what gives it this name. In explosives such as dynamites, nitroglycerin is used. The demolition and construction industries have often great use of this element. Its atomic number is seven and the symbol is N.

 

 

 

 

 

Diamond is in fact, a type of carbon. Carbon is capable of forming many allotropes. Well-known forms include diamond and graphite.

               Diamond, the hardest substance that Man has ever known, is a solid form of carbon. Graphite is another form of it. It is widely used in the manufacture of batteries, and the brake systems of vehicles. Besides the two there are many other forms of carbon too, such as amorphous carbon, and buckminsterfullerene. A curious fact is, while diamond is the hardest material, graphite is one of the softest known materials in nature.

              The presence of carbon is essential to our planet because it is an element that sustains life on Earth. It is a key element to life.

              Carbon is the second most abundant element in the human body. The human body contains about 16 kilogrammes of carbon in diverse forms. Carbon comes fourth in abundance when the entire Universe is taken into account.

               Carbon boasts of more compounds than most of the other elements in nature-around 10 million compounds in all. Its life is cyclical, as it undergoes a never-ending process of circulating through air, oceans, rocks, plants, and animals.

               Carbon is an element which is used in most of the industries in the world. People across the globe use carbon in the form of coal, and crude oil. Black ink for printers and colours for painting are also produced from carbon.

               Atomic number of this element is 6, and the symbol is C.

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               Boron is one element that is found in every household. Whether you want to wash your clothes, or grow some garden plants in your backyard, boron is indispensable. The reason is that boron compounds are used in detergents, insecticides, and fertilizers. Boron is both a common chemical ingredient and an important nutrient for plants.

               Boron receives its name from the Arabic word, ‘buraq’. It means borax, a mineral from which boron is extracted. Boron has a very high melting point. This quality makes it a suitable ingredient of a host of materials such as Pyrex glass and ceramic glazes for tiles and kitchen equipment. Boron makes them resistant to heat.

               Boron’s household utilities do not end there. Its compounds are used in the manufacture of face powder, as its presence provides a smooth and silky texture and makes the skin look flawless.

               Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thenard were the scientists who first discovered boron in1808. Its atomic number is 5, and the symbol is B.      

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Beryllium salts are sweet in taste. But they are very toxic too. The element beryllium was once known as ‘glucine’ due to its flavour, and was represented as GI. In Greek, glucine means sweetness.

               Beryllium has been in use for thousands of years. However, in the modern era, it was a scientist called Nicolas Louis Vauquelin who discovered the element for the first time in emeralds in 1798. Two scientists are credited for isolating the metal from beryl and emeralds. Friedrich Wohler and Antoine Bussy achieved the feat in 1828. And guess what? They did this independently of each other!

              Beryllium’s presence can be traced in more than 100 minerals. However, extracting the element from them is not an easy task.

              Adding beryllium to other metals makes them stronger. When copper is mixed with small amounts of beryllium, beryllium copper is produced. This metal is six times stronger than copper taken alone.

             Beryllium appears 4th in the periodic table. Its atomic symbol is Be.