Favorite Element

[Michaelangelica]

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[shirleypearls20]

I think my favourite element would be barium.Barium is a metallic element and is silvery white in colour only when it is pure.It oxidises easily & it reacts with water or alcohol. Barium is one of the alkaline-earth metals.It has an atomic number of 56 and an atomic weight of 137.32.Capable of forming salts. Salts of barium burn with a beautiful grassy green flame in the Bunsen flame.

[Michaelangelica]

I think my favourite element would be barium.Barium is a metallic element and is silvery white in colour only when it is pure.It oxidises easily & it reacts with water or alcohol. Barium is one of the alkaline-earth metals.It has an atomic number of 56 and an atomic weight of 137.32.Capable of forming salts. Salts of barium burn with a beautiful grassy green flame in the Bunsen flame.

Is that what they give you before taking an x-ray of your digestive system?

 

I am supposed to have one soon.

[Mercedes Benzene]

Is that what they give you before taking an x-ray of your digestive system?

 

I believe so.

If I remember correctly, it is Barium Sulfate, because as I look at my solubility chart, it is not very soluble, which would make it a good contrast medium for an x-ray.

[JackOfTraDeZ]

Helium is pretty cool. Pun intended. Ever load it into an NMR?

 

The group-VIII metals and thereabouts. Osmium / Iridium. Talk about HEAVY METAL!

 

Tantalum - ever see it in bulk? You never seen a more beautiful bluish-purple metal luster.

 

 

But still, I gotta say Gold takes the prize. Nothing beats that look ...

[pigeon_soup]

Lithium. It has some interesting properties, such as being highly flammable and slightly explosive when exposed to air and especially water. This metal is the lightest solid element and is soft enough to cut with a knife.

 

It is my favourite because of its application in psychiatric medicine. Lithium is administered in a number of chemical salts of lithium, which are used primarily in the treatment of bipolar disorder as mood stabilising drugs.

 

"I'm so happy 'cause today I've found my friends. They're in my head." - Lithium by Nirvana

 

beat me to it lol

[KatherineLee]

My favorite element used to be carbon.

 

But then I took a course, some of you may be familiar with...

 

called Organic Chemistry.

 

 

 

And since then, I dislike any element associated with organic compounds.

 

 

So I guess the element I favor now is the unnamed number 117... because someday it will be named after me. Doesn't Dollium sound pretty sweet?

Just kidding, but seriously.

[scerri]

My favorite element is element 72, hafnium, a somewhat exotic element which was discovered in the 1920s in Copenhagen by von Hevesy and Coster.

 

The reason is that after writing an article on whether Bohr predicted the nature of hafnium or whether he used chemical properties to deduce its configuration, I was invited by philosopher Karl Popper to his home for a discussion. In the course of the article I had criticized Popper for getting the story wrong. He readily accepted my criticism.

 

Popper was already over 90 years old and lived for a further 2 years.

 

My article is,

Eric Scerri, Prediction of the Nature of Hafnium from Chemistry, Bohr’s Theory and Quantum Theory, Annals of Science, 51, 137-150, (1994)

 

I am very happy to have discovered this forum and especially the chemistry section as I am also the author of

 

The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance, OUP, 2007.

 

Also because I am a great fan of 'the elements'. Oliver Sacks recently told me that his favorite element is gallium and that he would like to swim in:hyper: a tank full of liquid Ga !

 

regards,

eric scerri

[JackOfTraDeZ]

Hafnium is also looking pretty cool for the next gen microchip process. And anyone wants to swim in gallium let them do it and recieve the next Darwin award.

[Pyrotex]

My favorite element is Balonium, which I discovered while reading science fiction novels.

 

In its tetrahedral form, it has nearly infinite mechanical strength. In its cubic form, it stops all manner of radiation. In its dodecahedral form, it enables the creation of powerful force fields. In its asymmetric rhomboidal form, it is anti-gravitic. And in its amorphous form, it enables the generation of almost unlimited amounts of electrical energy.

 

Great stuff, if you can find it.

[Guest Lambus]

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[chilehed]

I like plutonium.

[TheFaithfulStone]

My favorite element is Balonium, which I discovered while reading science fiction novels.

 

I'm a bigger fan of it's isotopes, handwavium and unobtanium.

 

You obtain them by bombarding Balonium with a constant sub-atomic moron particle stream.

 

I also like adamantium, cuz I'm a dork. :shrug:

 

TFS

[freeztar]

Fluorine is a pretty interesting element.

I love fluorite crystals, and stronger teeth are always good.

 

It's also the most reactive element, even flirting with the otherwise non-promiscuous nobles. :shrug:

 

It is the most reactive and most electronegative of all the elements (4.0), and readily forms compounds with most other elements. Its oxidation number is a constant, at -1. Fluorine even combines with the noble gases, krypton, xenon, and radon. Even in dark, cool conditions, fluorine reacts explosively with hydrogen. It is so reactive that metals, and even water, as well as other substances, burn with a bright flame in a jet of fluorine gas. It is far too reactive to be found in elemental form. In moist air it reacts with water to form also-dangerous hydrofluoric acid.

Fluorine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[billg]

Calcium. http://youtube.com/watch?v=aY7XH2ulTEU