Category Elements

                Like twins, these two elements were born together! Carl Auer von Welsbach, an Austrian scientist, discovered neodymium and praseodymium at the same time. He separated the elements from a substance called didymium in 1885.

               Praseodymium can be found in a variety of minerals. Larger quantities of the element are found in monazite and bastnasite. Praseodymium is commonly used as an alloying agent with magnesium to create high strength metals used in aircraft engines. The atomic number of praseodymium is 59, and the element is represented as Pr.

               Neodymium is a soft and silvery metal. The element easily reacts with the air. Its uses are manifold. Neodymium’s chief use is as a reddish-purple pigment for glass and ceramics. It is also used in cryocoolers that regulate heat in experiments with metals. Neodymium is an important element in certain fertilizers. The element, when alloyed with iron and boron, produces the strongest permanent magnets known to exist.

              Neodymium has the atomic number 60 and it is represented as Nd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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               There are three scientists who are credited with the discovery of the element cerium. While Swedish chemists Jons Jacob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger discovered the element in Sweden, Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German scientist, discovered it in his mother country. Both these discoveries were done independently of each other, in the year 1803.

               Cerium is named after the asteroid Ceres, a dwarf planet, which was discovered in 1801. The planet’s name derives from the Roman goddess of agriculture. Cerium is one abundant element.

               Cerium is a grey silvery-white metal. It decomposes slowly in cold water, and very rapidly in hot water. It is found in several minerals including allanite or orthrite, monazite, bastnasite, cerite and samarskite. Large deposits of cerium have been found in India, Brazil and in Southern California.

               Cerium burns when heated and is used in self-cleaning ovens. The film and television industry extensively uses it in carbon-arc lighting technology for studio lighting and projector lights.

               The atomic number of cerium is 58, and the atomic symbol is Ce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Gallium is an interesting metal because it is hard and brittle in a cool atmosphere, soft in standard temperature and liquid in warm conditions. This metal is never found in its free form in nature.

            Dmitri Mendeleev, whom we have seen before as an illustrious scientist and the father of the periodic table, had predicted the existence of gallium before its discovery. He had named the missing element as ‘Eka-Aluminium’.

           The element was first discovered in 1875 by Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, a French chemist.

           You may have wondered how LED lights emit such glow. Gallium is used in the Light Emitting Diodes (LED). It is also used in electronic circuits and as semiconductors.

            The element has use in high-temperature thermometers, barometers, pharmaceuticals etc. However, the element has no known biological value.

            Gallium makes up about 0.0019 per cent of the earth’s crust by weight. The largest producers of gallium are Australia, Russia, France and Germany. It has an atomic number of 31, and the symbol is Ga.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Zinc, like copper, is a metal which was in use from ancient times. This bluish-silver coloured metal is crucial to life today as it is important in many industrial processes that often go unseen. Zinc is mostly used as an anti-corrosion agent.

            The element was probably named by the 16th century Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus. Zinc is used in the production of brass alloying with copper. There are many other alloys of the metal too. Zinc has non-corrosive properties; and therefore, it is used in plating iron.

             After copper, iron and aluminium, zinc is the most required metal in industry. It is zinc that is used in lithium batteries as anode. It is used in paints, fire safety equipment, wood preservatives, clocks, farming etc.

            The element, in its pure form, was discovered by Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, a German chemist, in 1746. Zinc is the 25th most abundant element in the earth’s crust.

             The element burns with a blue-green flare. Thirty per cent of the production of zinc is done through recycling and the rest by mining. It has an atomic number of 30, and the symbol is Zn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            In ancient times, the metal copper was found in abundance on Cypress, an island country in the Mediterranean.

            The country was a major exporter of the metal to the other parts of the world. It is from Cypress that copper gets its name.

            Copper was the first metal that man attempted to shape and mould. One of the greatest discoveries of the ancient man was the knowledge that a harder alloy metal, bronze, could be produced by adding tin to copper. This discovery led the human race to the Bronze Age.

            Besides gold, copper is the only metal in the periodic table whose colouring is not naturally silver or grey. Shiny and reddish, copper was the first metal that man learned to manipulate, and it remains one of the most important metals in the world today.

            Copper is one of the few metals that occur in nature in their directly useable form. A key metal in industry, copper is used for electrical wiring, plumbing and roofing.

            The atomic number of copper is 29, and the atomic symbol is Cu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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               Nickel is a metal which has been in use for thousands of years. Its use by humans dates back to at least 3500 BC. However, the element was discovered quite recently. Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, a Swedish mineralogist, was trying to extract copper from minerals in1751; but succeeded in discovering another metal, which he named nickel.

              Nickel is the sixth most abundant element on Earth. However, its presence in the Earth’s crust is very minimal. The element is 100 per cent more concentrated below the Earth’s surface than in the crust.

             Under standard conditions, nickel is found to be silvery white in colour and is fairly hard. This element is magnetic at room temperature like three other metals, such as iron, cobalt, and gadolinium. However, nickel loses its magnetism above 255 degrees Celsius.

              Most of the metal obtained today is used in the manufacture of nickel steel and alloys. Nickel steel, such as stainless steel, is an extremely strong material. The element is useful for a host of other products such as batteries, coins, guitar strings, and armour plates.

            Nickel is generally identified in meteorites where it is usually found combined with iron. There is a large nickel deposit located in Canada, and scientists think it is from a meteorite that smashed into the Earth thousands of years ago. Atomic number of this element is 28, and the symbol is Ni.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                A magnet attracts or repels other metals. Cobalt is magnetic; in fact, it is one of a handful of elements which are naturally magnetic. Cobalt maintains its magnetism, even at high temperatures.

               Cobalt resembles iron and nickel. In its pure form, it has a silvery blue colour. It is a brittle metal. It is generally found on Earth in its chemically combined forms.

               Georg Brandt, a Swedish chemist is recognized for isolating cobalt in 1735. However, even before its formal discovery, the metal has been in use throughout history. Pigments of cobalt, especially cobalt blue, have been used by painters for thousands of years. Researchers say that the use of cobalt as a colouring agent dates back to as far back as the Bronze Age.

               The ancient Egyptians made use of this element in their art and jewellery. The discovery of the metal in the ruins of Pompeii, an ancient city of Rome, has great archaeological significance too. Cobalt is also used in the medical field. A manmade isotope of the element, Cobalt-60 is commonly used in cancer treatments.

               Its atomic number is 27, and the symbol is Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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              Yes, we are living on a huge mass of iron, the Earth! In fact, the centre of the Earth is almost all iron. The surface of the earth is also rich in this element. Due to its abundance, the metal is used widely for a host of utilities. From steel in the hulls of ships, and cast iron in pipes, to stainless steel in cutlery and wrought iron in gates, this element is the main ingredient contained in most objects you see and use every day.

              Iron is a heavy metal. At the same time, it is pliable too. Grayish in appearance, it is the most used of all elements, because it is extremely hard and strong.

              It is one of the most useful elements in our body. Iron is necessary throughout our body, and is especially essential to our blood. Through blood vessels, iron atoms carry oxygen from lungs to our heart and brain. They also take carbon dioxide back to our lungs to be blown out. Iron is stored in our blood cells, liver and other tissues. Its atomic number is 26, and the symbol is Fe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            The name of the element manganese comes from the Latin word, ‘magnes’, which means magnet. However, do not think that manganese is magnetic as its name suggests. The name, in fact, derives from its compounds, which are used in the manufacture of glass.

            Manganese has been in use from ancient times. Researchers have found pigments of manganese in cave paintings dating from the Stone Age. Many alloys of manganese are in use today, especially in the manufacture of steel and glass.

           The element is mostly found in the Earth’s crust. However, it is very hard to discover it as a free element in nature, as it is often found in minerals that contain iron. It is the 12th most abundant element on earth’s crust and most of the world’s manganese is found in South Africa and Australia. Deposits of manganese are also found on the ocean bed.

           Manganese in it pure form is a reactive element. It burns in the presence of oxygen, and rusts when it comes in contact with water. It is silvery white in colour, and looks like iron.

           Manganese is an important nutrient for humans and animals, as it helps metabolic functions. Its atomic number is 25, and the symbol is Mn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               Have you heard of the terracotta army of the Qin dynasty? It is a large collection of terracotta sculptures prepared to be buried along with the Chinese emperor when he died in the 3rd century BC. He would be protected by them in his after-life, they thought!

               Now, what should interest us are not the sculptures themselves, but the presence of an element which the modern world came to know about only in the late 18th century, namely chromium. The weapons of this army were tipped with chromium oxide so that they stayed without rusting for millennia! Chromium was primarily used to produce some highly sought after pigments of red and yellow.

               The precious ruby stone gets its natural red colour from chromium. Chromium has a silvery, shiny appearance, and is a favourite substance to coat cars, and other appliances to protect them from corrosion and to improve their looks.

               Chromium is generally found in its ores. It is rarely found in its pure form in nature. The most common ore from which chromium is extracted is chromite. Some forms of chromium are non-toxic. However, chromium (VI) is carcinogenic. The discoverer of chromium is Nicolas L. Vauquelin, who achieved the feat in 1797.

               Its atomic number is 24 and the atomic symbol is Cr.