Category Elements

 

                 Can an element eventually become another element? Radon is produced when the element radium slowly decays. The element was discovered by Ernest Rutherford and Robert B. Owens. Radon is a colourless and odourless gas; however, it is dangerous because it gives off radiation. Some spas in Japan and Austria specialize in radon bathing, which supposedly makes people feel young and energetic again. It is represented as Rn, and its atomic number is 86.

 

 

 

 

                     Francium is named after the country of France. Francium was discovered by Marguerite Perey, a French chemist. It is an intensely radioactive element. It is one of the rarest elements in nature. Francium’s atomic number is 87, and it is represented as Fr.

 

 

 

 

                     Radium is a silvery white metal that quickly reacts with nitrogen in the air. The name of the element comes from the Latin word radius, meaning ‘ray’, as radium glows faintly in the dark. It is a poisonous, heavy, and radioactive metal. The element was discovered by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. It has the atomic number 88, and is represented as Ra.

 

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                       Polonium was discovered by Marie Curie, a Polish physicist, in 1898. This element is a strongly radioactive metal. Polonium takes its name from Poland, Marie Curie’s motherland. Poland then was not an independent country and Curie hoped that naming the element after Poland would make

 her country’s plight known to the world!

                       Marie Curie isolated polonium from uranium ores and pitchblende, a uranium-rich mineral, in which it exists in tiny amounts. Polonium is used in nuclear reactors. It is represented as Po, and its atomic number is 84.

 

 

                        The existence of astatine had been predicted in the 1800s. Mendeleev in his periodic table had left an empty space after iodine, signifying a yet-to-be-found element. Astatine, however, was discovered much later in 1940 by Dale Corson, Kenneth McKenzie and Emilio Segre at the University of California, Berkeley.

                       Astatine is the rarest element on Earth; approximately 25 grams occur naturally on the planet at any given time.

                      Astatine has an important use in nuclear medicine, but it decays so quickly that it must be used within a matter of hours following production.

                     The atomic symbol of astatine is At, and its atomic number is 85.

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                  Thallium is a silvery white metal that tends to react with air when exposed to it. Two scientists, William Crookes, an English physicist, and Claude-Auguste Lamy, a French chemist, discovered thallium independently of each other in 1861. Thallium was named after the Greek word thallos, meaning ‘a green shoot’ or ‘a tree twig’. Thallium salts are used in rat and insect poisons. The element plays a significant role in nuclear medicine. The atomic number of thallium is 81, and its atomic symbol is Tl.

 

 

 

 

                    Lead is a heavy metal which is denser than many common metals. It is an incredibly useful metal, but it is also toxic to humans. Lead is widely used in a variety of products, including cosmetics, paint and gasoline. The chemical symbol for lead is Pb, which comes from the Latin word ‘plumbum’, meaning plumbing or waterworks. It has the atomic number 82.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  Bismuth is a shiny brownish-silver metal. It is represented as Bi, and has the atomic number 83. Bismuth has been in use since ancient times, and was previously confused with both lead and tin. While no single person is credited with its discovery, it wasn’t until 1753 that Claude Geoffroy, a French chemist, discovered that it was a separate element.

 

 

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               Mercury has always been surrounded by mysteries. From ancient times, people had been intrigued by its dubious form and ambiguous nature. Mercury is a metal in liquid form. Alchemists thought that mercury was the primordial matter from which all other metals originated. They even believed that mercury could be turned into gold by chemical experimentation.

               The metal is the heaviest liquid in the world. The liquid element is easily obtained and fascinating to look at -no wonder people thought it was magical. It’s found in every living thing; and is, therefore, in every mouthful of food we eat.

               Mercury is also called quicksilver because it is silvery, and moves about quickly, without getting stuck to the surface.

               Mercury is extracted by heating cinnabar, a red mineral. This is most abundant in Spain, Russia and China.

               All forms of mercury are dangerous. However, methyl mercury is the most poisonous variant. Once valued as a medicine, mercury is now proven to be a deadly toxin. Mercury’s atomic number is 80, and it is represented as Hg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               Gold is an indispensable metal in our life. People wear gold ornaments during special occasions such as weddings and festivals. For people, gold ornaments are not only highly sought-after accessories but also a secure investment option due to its consistent price. What makes gold such a desirable metal?

               Gold has been prized for its yellow colour and shine since prehistoric times. It is popular mainly because its glow hardly diminishes. The glittering element has the ability to excite people like no other. Gold’s chemical symbol is Au, which comes from the Latin word ‘aurum’, meaning glow of sunrise.

               Gold is the most workable metal. It is soft and can be hammered into incredibly thin sheets called ‘gold leaf’. Gold has diverse utilities as it is used for teeth filling, jewellery, electrical circuit boards, space satellites and coins.

               The amount of gold in an object is measured in carats. Pure gold is 24 carats. A carat was originally a unit of weight based on the carob seed or bean, and it was used by ancient merchants in the Middle East.

               The atomic number of gold is 79.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               People love to wear on their body expensive metals such as silver, gold and platinum in the form of ornaments. While silver and gold are common jewellery, platinum is not as common due to its high cost.

               Ancient civilizations of Central and South America have used platinum for centuries. Archaeologists have discovered traces of the element in the gold used by the Ancient Egyptians as early as 1200 BC. However, scientists started to study the element only after European exploration of the Americas began.

               Platinum, a highly valued and desired metal, has a wide range of uses, including jewellery, electrical contacts, pace-makers, drugs and magnets. Platinum tends to be very expensive because of its rarity. Platinum is a silvery white metal. It was once known as ‘white gold’ due to its colour and cost. It is highly resistant to tarnishing and corrosion and is very soft and malleable.

               Though it is rare in the earth’s crust, the earth’s moon and meteorites often contain great deposits of platinum. South Africa is the leading producer of refined platinum. The atomic number of platinum is 78, and its atomic symbol is Pt.

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               Do you use a Parker fountain pen? A Parker 51 pen’s nib has iridium in it.

               The discovery of iridium is very similar to that of osmium. Scientists dissolved platinum in aqua regia, only to find a dark insoluble residue that resembled graphite forming in the liquid. Smithson Tennant, an English chemist, noticed that the residue contained two elements osmium and iridium in 1803. In 1804 he published his work and officially named both elements that he had accidentally discovered.

               Iridium is a very hard and brittle metal. It is one of the densest elements, second in density only to osmium. Iridium is one of the rarest metals and the most corrosion-resistant one. Therefore, it is used for deep water pipes and for the contacts in spark plugs. The element has utility in spacecraft engineering and telescope manufacture. Iridium is a member of the platinum family, and is white in colour, with a yellowish hue. Though it is not abundant in the earth’s crust, Iridium’s presence in meteorites is considerable. Due to the difficulty in extracting iridium, there are not many industrial applications for the element. However, its alloys are used widely. Iridium’s atomic number is 77, and it is represented as Ir.

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               Rhenium is a tough metal. It is silvery grey in colour, and  very heavy.

               Three German chemists, Walter Noddack, Ida Tacke, and Otto Berg are credited with the discovery and naming of the element in 1925.

               They reported that they had detected the element in platinum ore and in the mineral columbite. They also found rhenium in gadolinite and molybdenite. The trio named the element after the Rhine River in Germany.

               Rhenium has the highest boiling point of any of the elements. The single most common commercial use for rhenium is in the alloys that make up jet engines. Rhenium has the atomic number 75, and its atomic symbol is Re.

 

 

 

 

                Osmium is a hard and brittle metal, in bluish white colour. The name comes from the Greek word osme, which means smell, scent or odour. British chemist Smithson Tennant discovered osmium in 1803. The atomic number of osmium is 76, and its atomic symbol is Os.

 

               Thomas Alva Edison is probably a familiar name to everyone. He was an inventor who is credited with the invention of light bulb.

               After so many trial and error experiments with metal for the filaments, he came across a metal which was suitable for the bulbs. It was none other than tungsten.

               Tungsten is most used for the filaments of light bulbs and other types of lighting, because it has the highest melting point of all the metals. It ranges in colour from a steely grey, to almost white.

               Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a German-Swedish chemist, hypothesized the existence of tungsten in 1781. Two years later, Spanish chemists, Jose and Fausto Elhuyar isolated tungsten.

               The name tungsten comes from the Swedish words ‘tung sten’, meaning heavy stone. Tungsten is the heaviest of all elements known to play a biological role. Tungsten is resistant to attack by alkali, oxygen, and acids. Production of tungsten is difficult, due to its high melting point.

               It has the atomic number 74, and its atomic symbol is W.

               The symbol comes from its alternative name wolfram used by German tin miners.

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               Do you know how the element tantalum gets its name? There is a Greek mythological figure called Tantalus who was sentenced for his heinous crimes. He was punished to eternally stand in a stream, beneath a tree with fruit-laden branches, never being able to satiate his hunger or quench his thirst. The element tantalum is named after this villainous character.

               Tantalum was discovered by Anders Ekeberg, a Swiss chemist, in 1802. Ekeberg was an expert in Greek literature, and he was deaf!

               The element is blue-grey in colour, and is a very hard metal with the fourth highest melting point of any metallic element. It is well known for its ability to resist corrosion by acids, even aqua regia, a strong acidic mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

               There is a wide variety of minerals that contain tantalum, but only five are viable for commercial uses at present. They are euxenite, microlite, polycrase, tantalite, and wodginite. Of these minerals, tantalite is the most important for tantalum mining.

               Tantalum is mainly found in Australia, Brazil, Mozambique, Thailand, Portugal, Nigeria, Zaire and Canada. It is used in a variety of alloys to add high strength, ductility and a high melting point.

               The atomic number of tantalum is 73, and its atomic symbol is Ta.

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