Thursday, October 27, 2011

Current Events

Mercury

Mercury has the symbol Hg and the atomic number of 80. It has a freezing point of -38 Celsius and a boiling point of 356. It can be found in thermometers and many other appliances, but it is being used less and less because of its poisoness properties when it is swallowed. It is silver and very shiny, and usually found as a liquid. It is extremely dense and cannot be soaked up by most materials. The earliest forms of Mercury was found in Egyptian Tombs dating back to 1500 BCE.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Current Events

Uranium

Uranium has the atomic number of 92, its chemical letter is U. It is one of the most dense metals on earth. Uranium is mainly known for being used in nuclear weapons. Nowdays uranium is mainly used in Nuclear power plants. It was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist. It has a melting point of 1132 celcius, and was apparently formed in a supernova. This is not unccomon. Uranium is the main source of heat in the earths core.

Uranium is being mined in several countries, but can only be sold to countries that have signed a treaty saying that they won't use it for nuclear weapons. However, uranium is still used in more appliances then you might think, because of its many strange properties.

Current Events

Nitrogen

Nitrogen on the periotic table is shown as N. It has the atomic number of 7 and the atomic mass of 14. Nitrogen as an element was discovered by Daniel Rutherford in 1772. There is nitrogen in all living things, 3% of the weight in a human body is from nitrogen. It is enssential for like on earth. It is also a main ingredient in fertilizers. Nitrogen in liquid form can be quite chilly. Nitrogen in a sloid form can only be found in temperature under -210 celcius, and the melting point of nitrogen in -190 celcius. Most of the time, nitrogen is stable and doesn't react. The only 2 elements found to react with nitrogen is Magnesium and Lithium. Nitrogen is used in many appliances, even one like beer cans and beer kegs to keep beer fresh. However, if you touch liquid nitrogen with your bare hand for even a second, you will get frostbite.

Current Events

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known as Black powder was commonly used in guns and cannons. Once it catched fire, it can be very explosive and unstable, which is why it is not used in modern day weapons. It is made of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. Once set alight, it will burn quickly and the chemical reaction will give off high temperatures, carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, and potassium sulfide. This happens very quickly and is why it is used as a proppeland in old weapons such as muskets. However this material is also used in fireworks.

This combination of materials and their result was discovered by Chinese alchemists in the 9th century, back then it was only used in fireworks., and from then on spread through the world. However, even now gunpowder is considered dangerous because of how easily it can ignite.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Current Events

Cesium
Cs
Cesium is one of the most explosive and reactive alkaline metals, second only to Francium, which is radioactive. It's atomic number is 55, and atomic weight is 132 atomic mass units. It can be cut with your average knife because it is the softest metal ever discovered. It's color is either gold or silver.

It was discovered in 1860 by Robert Bunsen and Gustov Kirchhoff in Germany. Its melting point is 28 degrees Celsius, making it one of the few metals that are liquid at room temperature. This is extremely expensive and hard to find. It is usually found in small amounts but even that can make a boom.