Category Chemistry

               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.

               You may have seen little thumbnail sized or even smaller battery cells used in watches and other electronic gadgets. We often wonder how such tiny things can power machines. Lithium is the element that gives them power.

               Under standard conditions lithium is the lightest metal; and therefore, this element is ideal for small batteries which must be light and compact for their use in wrist-watches, pocket calculators, toys and even cardiac pacemakers. Due to its lightness, it is also very useful in aircraft manufacture.

               The speciality of lithium does not end there. It is also a very soft metal. It is so soft that with your kitchen knife you can cut it into pieces. The element is also so low in density that if you drop it in water, it floats!

               Scientists believe that the origin of lithium can be traced back to the Big Bang. Lithium must be one of the three elements thought to have come into existence during the Big Bang.

               Lithium is abundant in sea water. However, its presence in the soil is very minimal. Lithium is represented as Li, and has the atomic number three.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

                During festivals or birthday parties, you may have seen balloons that float in the air. If you release their string from your hands, they will slowly rise up in the air and disappear. What makes them float in the air?

              It is the element Helium. Helium is one of the lightest gaseous elements in the periodic table. It is also one of the least dense elements. These qualities make helium an ideal element for lifting things such as weather balloons, or party balloons.

              There is something really curious about the discovery of this element. This is the only element which was discovered in space, before its presence was found on earth! It was first detected as an unknown yellow spectral line in sunlight during a solar eclipse in 1868 by Georges Rayet, Captain C. T. Haig, Norman R. Pogson, and Lieutenant John Herschel. It was subsequently confirmed by French astronomer Jules Janssen.

               If you have gone scuba diving, helium would have certainly helped you. Helium is used in specialized ‘breathing mixtures’ of gases for deep-sea diving because it is non-toxic, and can be easily compressed. Its atomic number is two and the symbol is He.

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