Being radioactive means being unstable with a propensity to decay. Yet, uranium and thorium are quite abundant. This is in part because they are only very weakly radioctive. […]
In 1902, chemist, Bohuslav Brauner pointed at the presence of element 61, placed between neodymium and samarium. But, the element in question, promethium, was detected only after 44 years, by physicist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee. […]
As the name misleadingly suggests, rare earth metals aren’t rare but just hidden. It is purifying them that’s the tough part, as most of them are found alongside each other and up to 5 elements can be found mixed in one sample alone. […]
The f-block elements, instead of being vertically or diagonally grouped, are grouped horizontally. This allows them to produce groups of just two elements each. […]
Rare earth elements have many uses. For example, Erbium is used to amplify light in fiber-optic cables. Samarium as an alloy has application that helps shrink electronic devices, like headphones. […]
The group 12 metals are post-transition metals. It is their chemical properties, such as losing only their s-subshell electrons on oxidation while the d-subshell is still full, which makes them behave more like alkaline earth metals. […]
In a bid to hide his Noble gold medals from Hitler, chemist George de Hevesy dissolved them using ‘aqua regia’. This special solvent is actually a mixture of two strong acids, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. […]
According to the IUPAC definition, in order to be categorized as transition metal, the metal should be able to give rise to ions with an incomplete d-subshell. Copper, silver, and gold do that but extremely grudgingly, or in some cases, rarely. Thus, they just about barely make the cut when it comes to being transition metals. […]
In their pure elemental state, copper and gold have colors that are distinct. It comes from their full d-subshell. And yet, the energetics of each of them are somewhat different. […]
Since iridium is very rare on the earth’s surface but abundant in the solar system, it became easy to validate the meteor theory as the cause for the extinction of dinosaurs. Finding astoundingly huge quantities around the time they were thought to have gone extinct, proved the theory right. […]
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