This week, it’s all about the Elements
1 / 10 |
On August 18, 1868, French astronomer Pierre Janssen was in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, observing the solar eclipse. He noticed bright yellow lines in the spectrum of the chromosphere, showing that the latter was gaseous. These were at a wavelength of 587.49 nm and indicated the presence of an undiscovered element. After proving that not a type of Hydrogen, chemist Edward Frankland named it after the Greek word for the sun. It’s the first element you learn about. Which element is this?
2 / 10 |
This was probably the first metal mined and crafted by humans. Its discovery can be traced back to 9000BC in the Middle East. There is a site in Serbia where this metal is known to have been smelted in 5000BC. Humans have used itmetal in various ways, from carrying water to carrying electricity. Which metal is this?
3 / 10 |
This element was first described by Indian metallurgists in Rasaratna Samuccaya from the 14th century. It had been used as a component of brass since 1000BC in India. Only in 1526 did it get its present name, and in 1746 the pure form was isolated. What is this element that plays a major role in making iron corrosion-resistant?
4 / 10 |
This was the first element to be discovered since ancient times when Henning Brand found it in 1669. He was trying to create the mythical philosopher’s stone through the distillation of salts by evaporating urine. This resulted in a white material that glowed in the dark and burned brilliantly. He named it _____ mirabilis (‘miraculous bearer of light’). What is this that is so reactive that it is never found as a free element on Earth?
5 / 10 |
In mediaeval Germany, a red mineral was found that resembled copper ore. But they couldn’t extract any copper from it and blamed this on a mischievous spirit from German mythology. In 1751, Axel Fredrik Cronstedt tried to extract copper and instead produced a white metal that he named after that spirit. What is this metal that is so widely used in coins that in some places its name refers to an amount of currency?
6 / 10 |
This element was first discovered by Daniel Rutherford in Edinburgh. He also found that it did not support life, which led Antoine Lavoisier to call the element Azote, which means ‘no life’ in Greek. The name we are familiar with comes from the Greek word for ‘to choke’ which is what it does to organisms that are exposed to it. What element is this that is the most abundant uncombined element in the atmosphere?
7 / 10 |
Carl Wilhelm Scheele was a Swedish chemist who made a number ofdiscoveries before others who are generally given the credit. He discovered oxygen, molybdenum, tungsten, barium and hydrogen. He discovered this element that bleached litmus and had a yellow-green colour in 1774. He called it ‘dephlogisticated muriatic acid air’ but failed to recognise it as an individual element. In 1808 Humphry Davy classified it as an element. What element is this that one would smell in aquatic centres?
8 / 10 |
Martin Klaproth was a German chemist who precipitated a yellow compound by dissolving pitchblende in nitric acid and neutralising the solution with sodium hydroxide. He named the newly discovered element after a planet discovered just eight years earlier (which was named after the primordial Greek god of the sky). Which element is this whose isotopes play a major role in providing energy to fast growing cities?
9 / 10 |
This element was discovered by French chemist Bernard Courtois in 1811. Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac gave it its name, which is Greek for ‘violet-coloured’. Courtois discovered the element when he burned seaweed with ash and washed with water. When he added sulfuric acid to the remaining water, a purple vapour rose that crystallised as dark crystals. What element was this that is now a common addition in nutrition?
10 / 10 |
These three elements were discovered by W. Ramsay and W. Travers in 1898 as inert elements remaining in dry air, after nitrogen, oxygen, argon and carbon dioxide were removed. Each of these had a characteristic emission spectrum of orange-red, white, light blue. The first one is used in advertising signs, the second in high powered lasers and the third in flash lamps. What are these elements that which make up three of six ‘noble gases’?