Chemical Forums
General Forums => Generic Discussion => Topic started by: Alberto_Kravina on January 02, 2006, 03:47:27 PM
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Just to kill the time: What is your favourite element? :)
My favourite is Thallium
What about you? :D
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hmm.... favourite element.. Hard to say. Maybe... beryllium? NO thorium... eeeh... I'll think of it later :-\
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I don't have a favorite element, but I have favorite compounds - borides. In Polish they are called borki (pl) and singular form is borek :)
For example magnesium boride - borek magnezu :)
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hah! What an intresting name, then. Too bad no groups are called "Andrew" (well maybe in another language :-\ )
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this is not an element either but its composed of only 1 element, buckminsterfullerene
or C60
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It is a short form of my second name (Borkowski) - I was called this way since I was six. Generally speaking the older you get, the more serious you should be, but - as every rule of thumb - it doesn't work in every case ;)
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I have to vote for carbon. The diversity of chemistry, basis of life, and don't forget the pretty diamonds.
All adds up to 1st place, easy, in the element contest, in my book.
Personally, I might put thallium in last place. Poisonous, quickly turns ugly from corrosion, yuck. It does have a cool spectrum though.
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I like elemental sodium and the other alkali metals. Reason being they don't get along with water very well.
My physical science teacher freshman year had some left over sodium metal and it was after class and he's like "you wanna do something fun." I said sure obviously and then he gave me sodium metal and let me throw it into the sink which was filled with water. I would have to say it was like 1-2g but I'm not good with weight. It was still fun though.
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I would have to say carbon, I wouldn't have all my drugs without it ;D
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I would have to say carbon, I wouldn't have all my drugs without it ;D
There's always N2O. :D
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True, but doing nothing but N2O constantly would lower my bodily levels of vitamin B12 to a fatal level if large supplements were not taken daily.
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Fluorine....no particular reason.. :D
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Well, maybe my favourite element is Aluminum: it was the one I chose for my first chem project at the high school. It was a short essay about its properties and the Hall-Hérout process.
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Personally, I might put thallium in last place. Poisonous, quickly turns ugly from corrosion, yuck. It does have a cool spectrum though.
That's why it is my favourite, because of it's spectrum. The first time that I saw this green line (when I analyzed a sample of Techtite) I had no idea what it was, and for a second I thought that I discovered a new element....lol....and I'll remember this green line for my whole life, it's a vision that has been impressed in my brain ever since. :)
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For me it's like asking "What's your favorite child?". As a curator of a nice collection of elements, I have a really difficult time picking out a "favorite". So I'll just list the ones that really pique my interest with a brief explanation of why.
Bromine: The intensely dark color, pungent odor, and the fact that it's one of the few pure elements we see in a liquid form.
Cesium: It has such a beautiful golden color to it and forms amazing crystals when it solidifies. However, the metal will melt just barely above room temperature so when you hold the sealed ampoule in your hand, you see the metal melting right before your eyes into a beautiful water-like golden liquid.
Uranium: Most people on this earth have never seen or held the pure metal in their hands. It tarnishes readily like neodymium above it, but it's incredibly dense, incredibly hard, and makes a geiger counter go nuts when it's put near it. All you hear about it is that it's radioactive so many people fail to recognize the fact that it's a metal just like iron is.
Osmium: A truly 'colored' metal that is incredibly dense, resistant to oxidation and readily oxidized at the same time. Just the way the metal is formed determines the reactivity. Solid lumps like what I have in my collection do not oxidize at all. A powder or sponge version of the same metal, however, readily oxidizes into a horrifly toxic and putrid smelling oxide. (Mine isn't oxidizing because it is totally odorless). It's amazing how the form of the metal can alter its chemistry so much. In addition, the blue color of it is as unique as it gets.
Gold: It's a wonderfully colored metal which is as soft as can be, yet incredibly dense as well. Many people don't realize just how dense gold is until they pick up a sizeable mass of it. Then their eyes light up as they see how much mass is in that tiny little gold slab.
Phosphorus: A VERY reactive element depending on the allotrope you have. White phosphorus goes crazy with just about anything. Red phosphorus needs some motivation to get nuts. Black phosphorus will barely react at all. All the allotropes are so different from each other, yet amazing in their own rights.
There are so many more that I could wax on about for years, but these ones just stick out in my mind at the moment.
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WOW! Cool explanations jdurg ;) !
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I agree with all of jdurg's comments, so I'll add some props for some others:
Neon - Lovely color in gas discharge tubes. Neon was first discovered by its spectra (like many elements, thallium included), so the first sign anybody had of this new element was the sight of that intense red-orange glow. I think it is cool to imagine that discovery.
Iodine - Fairly cool looking crystals, and very pretty violet vapor. Besides, its by far the easiest halogen to handle.
Mercury - Pretty obvious, too bad it is so dangerous.
Iron - Ferromagnetism is a neat property (although Fe is not alone), forms lots of colored complexes so it is fun to experiment with, tremendously economically important, plus we need it to breathe. (Another one of those colored complexes.)
Copper - I think this might be the prettiest metal, plus it has some of the prettiest minerals (e.g. malachite and azurite).
Plutonium - Many brightly colored solutions (with different complexes and oxidation states), bizzare mechanical properties (density changes of 30% or so, strange electrical and thermal conductivity, many different crystal structures, solid Pu floats on liquid unlike almost everything else.) It holds a huge amount of energy, hence its dark side, which is already responsible for 100,000 or so deaths >:(
Happily and sadly, I can't seem to get a real sample. The North Koreans won't answer my emails.
Cesium - jdurg already mentioned this, but liquid Cs is just so cool, I'll mention it again.
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I'm sure quite a few people here know this, but the Washington Monument (Washington D.C., United States) is capped with aluminum instead of gold because at the time aluminum was a heck of a lot more expensive than gold.
Just a cool little fact. If anyone knows about aluminum purification it uses up a lot of electricity. I'm surprised that it's cheap.
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I've always liked elements in platinum group. Not because they are shiny and expensive, but because they're all dense, solid and nearly inert.
Iridium is my favourite. It's the most corrosion resistant metallic element, it's dense, very hard and those few salts it makes are nicely coloured. Plus it has a cool name.
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Call me cheesy, but I'm gonna go with Oxygen.
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This isn't an element but my favorite is Tri Nitro Toluene. (TNT)
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I think we have already had this discussion before, or it may just be de ja vu -
Anyway - definately Sodium (espessially when chucked into water)
and maybe magnesium (when put in a bunsen)
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This is SO not fair for carbon fiends like me! Favorite type of compounds, maybe? Since there are so many? (I'm kinda partial to arenes.) ;)
Second place is split between silicon and oxygen (O2, preferably singlet state).
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Maybe we should add compounds to this too. Lately I'm starting to like carbon more and more. Mainly because esters are interesting in there fragrances, and not all that hard to make. Getting the chemicals can be though...
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Fluorine....no particular reason.. :D
I'd like to take this opportunity to change my mind completely. :P
Silver is now my favourite element, since that's what my final year research is on - electrochemistry & silver/platinum/gold nanoparticles. ;D
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I love gold. It is very noble
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There's something about ALL of the platinum group metals that just begs for attention. Whether it's the rarity of it, the beauty of it, the nobility of it, or the density of it, all of the PGMs are a joy to hold. As each day goes by and the price of it continues to rise, however, rhodium is taking a special place in my heart. Especially since I have a sizeable 10-gram button of it. :D
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This is SO not fair for carbon fiends like me! Favorite type of compounds, maybe? Since there are so many? (I'm kinda partial to arenes.) ;)
Second place is split between silicon and oxygen (O2, preferably singlet state).
Yes - as a diamond it is lovely! ;D
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man.......i gota lot of favorites,
elements: magnesium right now is best, then osmium, ununhexium,ceasium (big explosion in H2O
) Titanium, Tungsten
simple compounds: TiO2 H2O(gotta have it) C2H6 AlO, and most all nitrates.
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man.......i gota lot of favorites,
elements: magnesium right now is best, then osmium, ununhexium,ceasium (big explosion in H2O
) Titanium, Tungsten
simple compounds: TiO2 H2O(gotta have it) C2H6 AlO, and most all nitrates.
You'd be amazed, but Cs in water doesn't really produce a massive explosion. Cs is denser than water is so it will always sink to the bottom. As a result, a lot of the H2 it generates gets stuck under the surface of the water and is unable to explode. Honestly, Sodium and Potassium are the two best alkalis to see explode in water because they are "light" enough to remain on the surface where the H2 and O2 can mix and ignite. Sure Rb and Cs will go "boom", but with the same mass of Na or K you'd see a MUCH bigger explosion.
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We've had a whole discussion on the alkali metals.
Now only if I could remember where it was...
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Rutherfordium
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Rutherfordium
Got any pictures? ;)
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Here is a picture of Rutherfordium (http://www.webqc.org/elements-photo/Rutherfordium.jpg).
[edit] I checked right after posting this and saw that the periodic table here at the forums has the same picture.
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Here is a picture of Rutherfordium (http://www.webqc.org/elements-photo/Rutherfordium.jpg).
Wow, that's a big sample, looks around 70 kg or so. I didn't know Rf could be made in such quantity! :P
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Here is a picture of Rutherfordium (http://www.webqc.org/elements-photo/Rutherfordium.jpg).
[edit] I checked right after posting this and saw that the periodic table here at the forums has the same picture.
Wow. I didn't realize they directly copied my photo! :o
[edit] Okay. I see that they have given me the proper credit, and now that I think of it, I believe they had asked me a while ago if they could use my photos. ;D
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How many elements are there now
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How many elements are there now
Depends on who you ask. ;)
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I don't understand what you mean
So for you, each one will have another ideas ;D
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I don't understand what you mean
So for you, each one will have another ideas ;D
The thing is, with the newer elements they have to be discovered by one party, then verified by another. What tends to happen quite often is that one party will say "We found element 1XX" but they are unable to reproduce that finding. As a result, their discovery doesn't really count. The thing is, the party that "discovered" that element believe whole-heartedly that they found it. In reality, until the finding can be verified and repeated they technically haven't discovered anything.
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You know it's all about Unununium!
Other than that I'd have to say Manganese just cause it's so awesome sounding.