12 Interesting Facts about Titanium: Transition Metal Atomic Element Number 22

1 Titanium could easily have been known as menachanite. Cornish vicar and amateur geologist William Gregor had first discovered titanium compound within black sand next to a stream in 1791. After extracting the oxide, he named it after the local parish, Manaccan. But it was not to be. A few years later, Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German scientist discovered the element independently and named it after the mythical race, Titans.

Properties of Titanium

2 Titanium, an inert non-toxic element, is ninth on the list of the earth’s most abundant element. This is fortunate, as titanium’s strength-to-weight ratio means it has proven invaluable to the commercial and industrial world.

Titanium Alloy

3 Titanium Facts

Atomic number: 22

Atomic weight: 47.867

State: silver solid

Category: transition metal

Melting point: 1,668°C (3,034°F)

Boiling point:  3,287°C (5,949°F)

4 On exposure to air, titanium acquires a layer of titanium oxide that protects the metal from the corrosive effects of oxygen. Initially, this oxide coating is only a few manometers thick, but increases to around 25 manometers over a few years. This coating is resistant not only to air but erosion from seawater. This is why titanium is included in structures that routinely bear the pummelling effects of the sea: submarines, propeller blades, oilrig struts and suspense bridges.

Titanium Uses

Titanium Symbol

5 Furthermore, titanium can be alloyed other metals to produce infinitely strong substances. Titanium alloys include scandium, molybdenum, aluminium and iron. Titanium alloys are used for many applications – crash helmets, horseshoes, cars, watches, bicycles frames, missiles, tanks, jewellery, surgical instruments and mobile phones.

6 Metal fatigue is every pilot’s fear. Certain metals over time accumulate stress fractures from the rigours of flight, weather, temperature and pressure changes. Titanium is highly resistant to metal fatigue and is also much lighter than steel, and is therefore widely used in aerospace technology.

Titanium Implants

7 Titanium is the ideal metal for surgical implants, as it does not react with human tissue. Hip replacements, dental implants, cartilage pins and skull plates are made from titanium. Before use, titanium is given a high electrical charge to remove the outer oxide layer, allowing a new layer to form as the metal fuses with bone.

8 But titanium is found in the human body anyway – in trace amounts. In fact, it can be found in just about every living organism on the planet. Titanium can also be found in seawater including mineral compounds, but cannot be found naturally in its pure form.

Titanium Dioxide in Pigments

9 Powdered titanium dioxide is the pigment included in white paint due to its high refractive index. This denotes a substance’s ability to refract (or scatter) light. Curiously, the powdered pigment, when viewed under the microscope, will appear translucent, almost like glass, and yet its refractive index makes gives the impression of brilliant white, opaque paint. For this reason, titanium dioxide is the staple white for oil paints, watercolour, acrylics, emulsion, primers and others. So-called titanium white is safer to use than the precursor, lead white.

10 Titanium dioxide’s whiteness is also used in sun creams to deflect the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. It can be found in toothpaste, paper and PVA plastic.

Titanium Metal

11 Titanium is the only element of the periodic table that burns in nitrogen. In the form of fine shavings, titanium will burn in air.

12 The moon contains pools of titanium rock on its surface, which has a higher concentration of the metal than is found in the typical rocks on earth. Titanium can also be found on meteorites and of course on certain stars, as it is manufactured via solar-nuclear fusion.

12 Interesting Facts about Calcium: Alkaline Earth Metal Atomic Element Number 20

1 Calcium in its pure form is nothing like the white hard stuff we associate with bones or seashells. Calcium if in fact a pale grey, softish metal with a dull lustre.

2 Calcium is the fifth most abundant element found in the earth’s crust, the fifth most abundant ion dissolved in seawater and also the fifth most abundant element in the body (after hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen). But being so reactive, calcium is seldom found in its pure state, only within compounds.

3 We couldn’t do without calcium. Our bones and teeth are made from calcium phosphate. The skeleton is constantly replenishing itself just like our skin, but at a slower rate. To maintain healthy bones humans need at least 1000mg of calcium a day (more if young, old or pregnant). Foods rich in calcium include dairy, dark greens and beans.

Powdered Calcium Carbonate

4 Calcium Facts

Atomic number: 20

Atomic weight: 40.078

State: silver-grey solid

Category: alkaline earth metal

Melting point: 842°C (1,548°F)

Boiling point:  1,484°C (2,703°F)

Why the White Cliffs of Dover are White

5 The White Cliffs of Dover consists of calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate. These chalky composites are produced when calcium is exposed to the air. If calcium was prone to this oxidization, this striking landmark might be known as the Grey Cliffs of Dover instead, which doesn’t have the same ring.

6 Houses couldn’t be built without calcium. It is used in glass, bricks and building mortar (or lime plaster). Lime plaster, or calcium oxide, as it is technically known, has been used since Roman times (which was then known as calx). Mixed with sand and water will produce cement that hardens as carbon dioxide in the air is absorbed. Georgian architecture provides the most aesthetically pleasing examples of limestone, some of which were formed during the Jurassic age.

Acid Soil and Alkaline Soil

Calcium Symbol

7 Confused about acid versus acid soil? Well, alkali soil contains a lot of calcium in the form of lime, which has a chalky consistency and tends to be dry. Acid soil might be clumpy or peaty due to excessive water washing the lime away. Plants cannot absorb nutrients very well if the soil is too acidic. Lime is often added to acid soil to raise the PH level. An acid testing kit will help give an accurate reading of the soil.

Is Calcium Toxic?

8 Calcium as a mineral supplement can cause kidney stones and diarrhea if taken in high doses. However, calcium metal is a different matter. It is toxic if ingested and is highly reactive when in contact with water, producing hydrogen. In the form of calcium hypochlorite, (a bleaching agent and sanitizer of drinking water), can spur rapid decomposition if placed in a warm place which will release poisonous chlorine gas.

Calcium in the Earth’s Crust

9 Calcium can be found in many natural compounds as well as lime and in the soil, these include gypsum, carbonate rocks, chalk, fluorite, sediments, dolomite, marble and calcite. It can also be found in the limestone caves of stalagmites and stalactites, not forgetting the hard matter of crustaceans and fossils.

10 Calcium is also put to industrial and commercial use, as calcium nitrate (fertilizer), calcium hypochlorite (chlorine powder for bleaching), calcium carbide (used in carbide lamps and as a plant ripening agent), calcium sulphate (a food additive), calcium citrate (citric acid) and many others.

Who Isolated Calcium Element?

11 Despite being used for thousands of years, calcium was not isolated into its pure state until 1808 by Sir Humphry Davy when he electrolyzed a mixture of lime and mercury oxide.

12 The expression ‘being in the limelight’ comes from an early form of stage lighting. In the 1800s, lime (calcium oxide) was burnt in an oxygen-hydrogen flame to produce a brilliant white light for the theatre. The expression stuck.

12 Interesting Facts about Scandium: Transition Metal Atomic Element Number 21

1 One might guess from the name that this transition metal is tagged after the place from where it was first isolated – Uppsala in the Scandinavian province of Sweden. A complex mineral compound provided scientist Lars Fredrik Nielson the opportunity to isolate Scandium in 1879.

2 But it was Dmitri Mendeleev who first worked out ten years before Nilson had, that Scandium existed. His periodic table had a gap between calcium – atomic number 20, and titanium – atomic 22. He even gave this theoretical element a name: eka-boron Scandium provided the missing piece with an atomic number 21.

Pure Scandium from Ore

3 Scandium Facts

Atomic number: 21

Atomic weight: 44. 955912

State: grey-white metal

Category: transition metal

Melting point:  1,541°C (2,806°F)

Boiling point:  2,836°C (5,136°F)

Scandium Uses

4 Scandium ore is rarer than gold on this earth and only a few kilograms of this grey transition metal is mined per year, which is why it is expensive to buy.

5 On first impressions, scandium seems rather feeble. On exposure to air, this greyish metal develops a pinkish-yellow tinge due to oxidization and is susceptible to weathering. Only a dilute acid is needed to dissolve scandium in fluid.

6 One may wonder why bother mining for such a rare substance, an unremarkable grey stuff at that, but when added in the small amount of 0.1% to aluminium, it will produce a remarkably strong alloy with a very high melting point.

7 Scandium’s strength-giving properties have proven invaluable in aircraft and sports cars. Being resistant to high impact, is also used in crash helmets, bicycle frames, golf club shafts and firearms.

What is Scandium?

Scandium Symbol

8 Scandium’s ores are paltry, being making scandium the fiftieth most abundant element on earth, but is quite plentiful in our solar system. It has been detected within our sun via spectrometry, as well as other stars in our galaxy.

9 Scandium is added to gas-vapour lamps that glow when an electric charge is applied. The lamp’s extra luminescence replicates sunlight and natural daylight, useful for the film industry and for SAD lamps. Scandium oxide is used for high intensity lights, such as stadium lights.

10 In low doses, scandium is added to the soil to boost germination of wheat.

Scandium Oxide

11 Scandium can be found in hundreds of mineral compounds, including beryl, thortveitite and euxenite but rarely in pure form. For this reason, it is difficult to extract. However, uranium plants produce scandium as a waste product and are able to sell it as scandium oxide.

12 Dental laser technology involves the use of scandium via YSGG which stands for yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet. When applied as a laser jet, aims to minimise patient anxiety and discomfort whilst the dentist is preparing the tooth for treatment.  This dispenses with the use of the hated drill.

12 Interesting Facts about Potassium: Alkali Metal Atomic Element Number 19

1 Without potassium, we couldn’t live. Potassium is a vital ion (or electrolyte) that regulates nerve impulses and cellular osmosis in living things. Nerves require electrical impulses to control the muscles and involuntary actions including the heart and lungs. Deficiency can lead to hypokalemia which is potentially fatal. Symptoms include muscle weakness, cramp, heart irregularities and kidney failure.

2 Foods high in potassium include beans, apricots, dark leafy greens and plain yoghurt. As the soil is easily depleted of potassium, has to be constantly replenished.

3 Throw this alkali metal into water and it will fizzle in a lilac flame as the hydrogen ignites. Potassium is so reactive, it even oxides in the air making this element a favoured ingredient for pyrotechnics and firework displays.

Potassium Permanganate

4 Potassium Facts

Atomic number: 19

Atomic weight: 39.0983

State: silver grey solid

Category: alkali metal

Melting point: 63°C (146°F)

Boiling point:  759°C (1,398°F)

Is Potassium a Metal?

5 At metal goes, potassium has little in common with the likes of steel or copper. Potassium is a soft and lightweight metal that oxidizes instantly with oxygen. It can be cut with a knife at room temperature and float upon oil. It is the second lightest metal after lithium.

6 All but five percent of the world’s potassium is used in agriculture – namely fertilizer additive, namely potash. Potassium caused the huge increase in crop production across the world. It was Justus Von Lieburg, a German chemist who first made the connection between potassium and plant growth in 1840.

Potassium Element Facts

Potassium Symbol

7 But this life-giver has a dark side, for an overdose of potassium chloride can lead to diarrhoea, collapse of the central nervous system and heart malfunction. Pure potassium chloride is injected into terminal patients as euthanasia as well as capital punishment via lethal injection.

8 Potassium is formed by the burning of oxygen and neon in type 2 supernovas, which are stellar explosions of a star less than eight times the mass of our sun. Potassium makes up 2.4% of the earth’s crust.

9 Potassium is taken from the name ‘potash’ a fertilizer used since antiquity, consisting of the ashes of burnt wood, leaves and lime which is then soaked in water. Potash was also used to make early forms of soap and glass.

Who Discovered Potassium?

10 It was Sir Humphry Davy who in 1807 first isolated potassium metal from potash via electrolysis. A few days later, he isolated sodium by a similar method. But as potassium and sodium were similar in properties, potassium was not accepted as an element until a few years later.

11 A substance known as potassium permanganate or Condy’s Crystals is known as the survival element for the stranded in most situations, as it can have many vital uses, including water purifier, anti fungal agent, antiseptic and creating survival signals.

12 Like carbon, potassium can be used to date rocks, as the potassium isotope decays at a steady rate into argon, a simpler element. Potassium-carbon dating , or K-ar dating as it is also known, can accurately date rocks over a few thousand years old.

12 Interesting Facts about Argon: Noble Gas Atomic Element Number 18

1 Argon is present in the air that we breathe, comprising the third most abundant gas after nitrogen and oxygen.

2 Argon is one of the heaviest gasses in our atmosphere, with an atomic mass almost three times that of oxygen, but only 93% of it is present in our air. Being a noble gas, is also antisocial, reluctant to react with most other elements except fluoride in certain conditions. In fact, the word argon is taken from the Greek word argos, meaning ‘lazy’ or ‘indolent’.

3 Argon, like neon, will glow if placed in a glass vacuum and an electric current run through it. But where neon emits a red glow, argon will be blue. Occasionally, mercury will be added to neon to intensify the blue.

Argon's Blue Glow

4 Argon Facts

Atomic number: 18

Atomic weight: 39.948

State: colorless gas

Category: noble gas

Melting point: -189°C (-308°F)

Boiling point:  -186°C (303°F)

Argon in Double Glazing

5 Argon is the gas that is inserted between two panes of glass in double glazing. In its pure state, argon is heavier than the surrounding air and conducts little heat. These properties make argon the ideal insulation made of air.

6 The discovery of argon earned British scientists John Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) and Sir William Ramsay $10,000 (a lot of money in 1894) but they had to keep their discovery secret because a condition of the competition is that no one must know of the discovery until a specified time.

Argon Lighting

7 Because argon is so stable, it is the gas that fills light bulbs, incandescent bulbs and strip-lighting in offices and homes. Oxygen would have corroded the tungsten filaments within.

8 Being inert, argon is safe to use within potentially flammable conditions such as shield arc welding of steel and aluminium, as well as the refinement of metals.

Argon Symbol

9 Most of the argon gas on earth has been created by the radioactive decay of potassium. This makes argon-39 the ideal gas with which to date ice cores and groundwater.

10 Argon of an intense beam of blue-green light is used as a laser treatment for eye surgery. Retinal detachments, capillary leakage, diabetic eye disease degeneration of the macular and glaucoma have been treated with argon laser therapy.

Argon and Silicon Crystals

11 Because argon is so inert, is disinclined to react with other elements. This makes argon the ideal atmosphere in which to grow germanium or silicon crystals. Because neither element will combine with argon, the crystals will be kept pure during growth.

12 Although Mar’s atmosphere is only 1% of the earth, argon can be found in the Martian atmosphere at a slightly higher level of 1.6% compared to the earth’s 0.93%. Being a heavier gas, argon is more easily anchored by Mar’s gravity than the lighter gases such as oxygen or helium. Incidentally, 95% of Mar’s atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide.

12 Interesting Facts about Chlorine: Halogen Atomic Element Number 17

1 Chlorine, a greenish yellow gas is rarely found in pure form, but as compounds in rock salt. It is commonly found in seawater. Carl Wilhelm Scheele first discovered this element in 1774 after extracting it from the mineral pyrolusite, but it was Sir Humphry Davy who named it in 1810.

Water Chlorination

2 The World Health Organization reported that adding chlorine to water has helped to increase life expectancy in the USA from a mere 45 to roughly 77 years. Water chlorination kills dangerous pathogens including typhoid, cholera and dysentery by oxidization, making water safe to drink.

3 Chlorine’s chief use is as a disinfectant and is added routinely to drinking water and swimming pools. Paper factories, paint, textiles, insecticides, medicines and antiseptics also use chlorine for cleaning and as a solvent.

Chlorine Tablets for Swimming Pools

4 Chlorine Properties

Atomic number: 17

Atomic weight: 35.453

State: Greenish yellow gas

Category: halogen

Melting point: -102°C (-151°F)

Boiling point:  -34°C (-29°F)

5 The disinfectant smell of swimming pools is attributed to chlorine. Conversely, a strong chlorine smell is a sign of a dirty pool, as by-products of chlorine emit odours as bacteria are killed. Nowadays, pools are shock-chlorinated with large amounts of sodium hypochlorite to mass-kill bacteria. Only once the chlorine levels are low, is the (now clean) pool safe to swim in.

6 Despite the health benefits of chlorinating water, by-products of over-chlorination can cause side effects such as fatigue and in high doses, cancer of the kidneys and liver as well as heart disease. For this reason, levels of chlorine in water supplies are constantly monitored to ensure they are low.

Chlorine Gas

7 Chlorine’s antiseptic qualities are in fact because it is toxic. In liquid form will irritate mucous membranes and burn the skin. In gas, can be lethal after a mere few breaths in concentrations of 1000 parts per million.  In 1915, the Germans released chlorine gas over the trenches of the British, killing thousands of soldiers.

Potassium Chloride Uses

Chlorine Symbol

8 Chlorine is present in table salt, hence sodium chloride but its uses are not confined to seasoning food. The chloride in salt provides a safe antiseptic for cleaning contact lenses and surgical equipment. Salts are also fed via intravenous drip to balance the body’s electrolytes. Potassium chloride is a pharmaceutical mineral salt used to treat potassium deficiency.

Hydrogen Chloride

9 Chlorine is also present in our stomachs in the form of hydrochloric acid (chlorine bonded with hydrogen), without which proteins could not be broken down for digestion. Hydrochloric acid is one of the most corrosive substances known to man, which also makes it invaluable for industrial processes, such as cleaning, refining metals and in fertilizer production.

What is Chloroform?

10 Chloroform, (a chloromethane), a thick, colourless liquid, is one of the first anaesthetics to be used after obstetrician James Young Simpson discovered for himself how inhaling the vapours spurred unconsciousness. But using it as pain relief for childbirth caused controversy with the church, as it was seen to be interfering with God’s way. This didn’t stop Queen Victoria from using chloroform when bearing two of her children.

11 It is chlorine that bleaches paper white. In fact, when added to clothes, or anything, it will make it whiter. This is because chlorine is a key ingredient in bleach.

12 Chloride is used in plastic known as PVC, or poly-vinyl-chloride. Being weatherproof, tough and heat resistant, is a favoured material for pipes, windows, doors and guttering on millions of homes.

12 Interesting Facts about Sulphur: Non Metal Atomic Element Number 16

1 Sulphur (spelled also sulfur), discovered by the Chinese around 1000AD, is the key ingredient in making gunpowder. Alchemists continued to refine the recipe as this powdery substance spread across the world, and since, gunpowder has became the most efficient form of weaponry, putting out of action the modest spear, bow and arrow.

2 Sulphur’s unsavoury properties goes further with the stinky smell of flatulence, bad breath, skunk scent, smelly feet, stink bombs and eggy volcanic gas vents. The compound hydrogen sulphide is particularly stinky when heated. Yet the much loved garlic (and onion) contains sulphur and is to blame for garlic breath.

3 This smelly gas if inhaled at above 300 particles per million in air, can be deadly, and indeed, caused over two hundred suicidal deaths in Japan in 2008 after the stricken souls created the lethal concoction from household chemicals. Entire apartments had to be evacuated.

Sulphur Crystals

4 Sulphur Facts

Atomic number: 16

Atomic weight: 32.066

State: yellow solid

Category: non-metal

Melting point: 115°C (239°F)

Boiling point:  445°C (833°F)

What is Brimstone?

5 Sulphur was known as brimstone – burning stone – in the early days due to its association with hell. Preachers were said to impart sermons of fire and brimstone to put the fear of God into parishioners. Brimstone is referred to repeatedly in the Bible, notably the raining of fire and brimstone to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

6 And yet sulphuric acid provides a life-giving ingredient in fertilizers and as a water cleansing agent for growing crops. Indeed, trace amounts is needed for biochemical actions in cells, as an antioxidant and is present in the vitamins biotin and thiamine. Sulphur compound is found in protein, including keratin, hair, feathers and skin. Burning them will produce an odorous smell. In fact, 0.25% of the body comprises sulphur.

Sulphuric Acid Facts

Sulphur Symbol

7 Due to the dangers of eating decaying meat, our noses have evolved to be extra sensitive to the smell of sulphur, as it is the smell of rotting flesh – a sensitivity of around one parts per trillion. That’s pretty sensitive because our lives depend upon our ability to steer clear of rotten meat.

8 Sulphur is added to the latex, found in rubber trees, to make durable, tough rubber for tyres. The process is known as vulcanisation and explains the unpleasant smell of burning tyres. And the man responsible for creating tough rubber? Charles Goodyear of Goodyear tyres.

9 Sulphur’s biggest use is in the production of sulphuric acid, used is in batteries, detergents, plastics, dissolving rocks to extract minerals and to make synthetic fibres. Sulphuric acid is dangerously corrosive and protective gear is needed during handling.

Hydrogen Sulphide

10 Hydrogen sulphide is more toxic than cyanide, as it can inhibit respiration. Yet incredibly, sulphuric acid – the same stuff that used in car batteries, is found in the stomach juices of sea squids.

11 Sulphur can be mined without actually mining. The Frasch process involves forcing the sulphur to the earth’s surface by forcing superheated water under high pressure into the rocks. Molten sulphur is allowed to cool in large containers.

12 Sulphur dioxide is widely used in the food industry as a preservative and antioxidant. Dried fruits and vegetables, as well as soft drinks contain minute amounts of sulphur dioxide, which has been known to trigger an asthma attack in sufferers if inhaled.