[Bored chemist]

I think Iron's next in the sequence. A fairly well known metal since about the 3rd millennium BC.
The second commonest metal in the earth's  crust (after Al). Seldom used in the pure state but very widely used as the major component of the collection of alloys called steel. The name, so I believe, is derived from the Anglo Saxon "iren", but I don't know where they got the name from. The symbol Fe is from the Latin word for iron; Ferrum.
One of the few elements that is magnetic.
There are a number of biological roles for iron, but the best known is hemoglobin the red, oxygen carrying, pigment of blood (at least in most vertebrates, some other animals use a copper based pigment)

[Make it Lady]

Name: Mercury
Symbol: Hg
Atomic Number: 80
Atomic Mass: 200.59 amu
Melting Point: -38.87 °C (234.28 K, -37.966 °F)
Boiling Point: 356.58 °C (629.73 K, 673.844 °F)
Number of Protons/Electrons: 80
Number of Neutrons: 121
Classification: Transition Metal
Crystal Structure: Rhombohedral
Density @ 293 K: 13.456 g/cm3
Color: Silver



Atomic Structure
   
Number of Energy Levels: 6

First Energy Level: 2
Second Energy Level: 8
Third Energy Level: 18
Fourth Energy Level: 32
Fifth Energy Level: 18
Sixth Energy Level: 2 


Isotopes
Isotope Half Life
Hg-194 520.0 years
Hg-196 Stable
Hg-197 2.7 days
Hg-197m 23.8 hours
Hg-198 Stable
Hg-199 Stable
Hg-200 Stable
Hg-201 Stable
Hg-202 Stable
Hg-203 46.6 days
Hg-204 Stable
Hg-206 8.2 minutes


Facts

Date of Discovery: Known to the ancients
Discoverer: Unknown
Name Origin: After the planet Mercury
Symbol Origin: From the Latin word hydrargyrum (liquid silver)
Uses: thermometers, barometers, fluorescent lamps, batteries
Obtained From: cinnabar ore
This is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature. If people are exposed to it for long periods it effects their balance. School children used to be allowed to play with the "beads" on a tray until some started falling over. I just love it, my favourite element. If you want to know how to remember its symbol it is Hg as mercury comes from H.G. Wells.

[Chemistry4me]

Cobalt, silvery-white, magnetic, metallic element used chiefly for making alloys. Cobalt was discovered in 1735 by the Swedish chemist George Brandt. It has a relatively low strength and little ductility at normal temperatures, but is ductile at high temperatures. Of several known cobalt isotopes, the radioactive cobalt-60 is the most important. It has a half-life of 5.7 years and produces intense gamma radiation. Cobalt-60 is used extensively in industry and in radioisotope therapy. Cobalt is about the 30th most abundant element in crustal rocks. Cobalt occurs as the arsenide CoAs2, known as smaltite or speiss cobalt; as cobalt sulpharsenide (CoAsS), known as cobalt glance or cobaltite; and as a hydrated arsenate of cobalt (Co(AsO4)2 • 8H2O), known as cobalt bloom or erythrite. The chief commercial sources of cobalt are the cobaltite ores of Ontario in Canada, and the central African nations of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, which, along with Canada, are the world's leading producers of the metal. Thermally resistant alloys, called super alloys, containing cobalt are used in industry and aircraft gas turbine engines. An alloy with steel known as cobalt steel is used for making permanent magnets. With tungsten carbide, cobalt forms Carboloy, a hard material used for cutting and machining steel; alloyed with chromium, cobalt produces Stellite, used for the same.

[Chemistry4me]

Nickel, silvery-white, magnetic metallic element used chiefly in making alloys. Nickel is a hard, malleable, ductile metal, capable of taking a high polish. It exists in five stable isotopic forms. Metallic nickel is not very active chemically. It is soluble in dilute nitric acid and becomes passive in concentrated nitric acid; it does not react with alkalis. Nickel occurs as a metal in meteors. Nickel is used as a protective and ornamental coating for metals, particularly iron and steel, that are susceptible to corrosion. The nickel plate is deposited by electrolysis in a nickel solution. Finely divided nickel absorbs 17 times its own volume of hydrogen and is used as a catalyst in many processes, including the hydrogenation of oils. Nickel is used chiefly in the form of alloys. It imparts great strength and corrosion resistance to steel. Nickel steel, containing about 2 to 4% nickel, is used in car parts such as axles, crankshafts, gears, valves, and rods; in machine parts; and in armour plate. Some of the most important nickel-containing alloys are German silver, Invar, Monel metal, Nichrome, and Permalloy. The nickel coins used for currency are an alloy of 25% nickel and 75% copper. Nickel is also a main component of nickel-cadmium batteries. Most of the world supply of nickel is mined in Canada.

[Chemistry4me]

Copper, brownish-red metallic element that is one of the most widely used of metals. Because of its many desirable properties, such as its conductivity of electricity and heat, its resistance to corrosion, its malleability and ductility, and its beauty, copper has long been used in a wide variety of applications. The principal uses are electrical, because of copper's extremely high conductivity, which is second only to that of silver. Because copper is very ductile, it can be drawn into wires of any diameter from about 0.025 mm upwards. It can be used in outdoor power lines and cables, as well as in house wiring, lamp cords, and electrical machinery such as generators, motors, controllers, signaling devices, electromagnets, and communications equipment. Copper has been used for coins throughout recorded history and has also been fashioned into cooking utensils, vats, and ornamental objects. Copper can easily be electroplated, alone or as a base for other metals. Copper was at one time used extensively for sheathing the bottom of wooden ships to prevent fouling. Pure copper is soft but can be hardened somewhat by being worked. Alloys of copper, which are far harder and stronger than the pure metal, have higher resistance and so cannot be used for electrical purposes. They do, however, have corrosion resistance almost as good as that of pure copper and are very easily worked in machine shops. The two most important alloys are brass, a zinc alloy, and bronze, a tin alloy. Both are used in enormous quantities. Copper is also alloyed with gold, silver, and nickel. Copper forms two series of chemical compounds: cuprous, in which the copper has a valence of 1, and cupric, in which the copper has a valence of 2. Cuprous compounds are easily oxidized to cupric, in many cases by mere exposure to air; cupric compounds are stable. Certain copper solutions have the power of dissolving cellulose, and large quantities of copper are for this reason used in the manufacture of rayon.

[Chemistry4me]

Zinc, bluish-white metallic element that has many industrial applications. Pure zinc is a crystalline metal, insoluble in hot and cold water and soluble in alcohol, acids, and alkalies. It is extremely brittle at ordinary temperatures, but becomes malleable between 120°C and 150°C  and may be rolled into sheets between heated rollers. The first step in the metallurgy process is to transform the ores into oxides by subjecting them to high temperatures. The oxides are then reduced by carbon in an electric furnace, the zinc boiling and distilling in the retort in which the reduction takes place. The zinc obtained by distillation contains small amounts of iron, arsenic, cadmium, and lead and is known in metallurgy as spelter. Electrolytic zinc is pure and has superior qualities, such as high resistance to corrosion. The metal is used principally as a protective coating, or galvanizer, for iron and steel; as an ingredient of various alloys, especially brass; as plates for dry electric cells; and for die castings. Zinc oxide, known as zinc white or Chinese white, is used as a paint pigment. It is also used as a filler in rubber tyres and is employed in medicine as an antiseptic ointment. Zinc chloride is used as a wood preservative and as a soldering fluid. Zinc sulphide is useful in applications involving electroluminescence, photoconductivity, and semiconductivity and has other electronic uses.

[Chemistry4me]

Gallium, metallic element that remains in the liquid state over a wider range of temperatures than any other element. Gallium is in group 13 of the periodic table; its was discovered spectroscopically by the French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875; a year later he isolated the element in its metallic state. Gallium is blue-grey in colour as a solid and silvery as a liquid. It is one of the few metals that is liquid at or near room temperature. Like water it can be supercooled and it expands upon freezing. The element is about 34th in order of abundance in the crust of the Earth. Gallium melts at 30° C, boils at about 2400° C, and has a relative density of 5.9; Gallium occurs in small quantities in some varieties of zinc blende, bauxite, pyrite, magnetite, and kaolin. Gallium resembles aluminium in forming trivalent salts and oxides; it also forms a few monovalent and divalent compounds. The low melting point and high boiling point of the metal are used to advantage in high-temperature thermometers. Certain gallium compounds are excellent semiconductors and have been extensively used in rectifiers, transistors, photoconductors, and laser and maser diodes.

[Chemistry4me]

Germanium, hard, brittle, greyish-white, crystalline semimetallic element. It is in group 14  of the periodic table. Germanium is in the same chemical family as carbon, silicon, tin, and lead, and resembles these elements in forming organic derivatives such as tetraethyl germanium and tetraphenyl germanium. Germanium forms hydrides—germanomethane, or germane (GeH4); germanoethane (Ge2H6); and germanopropane (Ge3H8)—analogous to those formed by carbon in the alkane series . The most important compounds of germanium are the oxide GeO2 (germanic acid) and the halides. Germanium is separated from other metals by distillation of the tetrachloride. Germanium ranks around 54th in order of abundance of the elements in the Earth's crust. Germanium occurs in small quantities in the ores of silver, copper, and zinc, and in the mineral germanite, which contains 8% germanium. Germanium and its compounds are used in a variety of ways. Suitably prepared germanium crystals have the property of rectifying, or passing electrical currents in one direction only, and so were used extensively during and after World War II as detectors for ultra-high-frequency radio and radar signals. Germanium crystals also have other specialized electronic uses. Germanium was the first metal used in the transistor. Germanium oxide is used in the manufacture of optical glass and as a drug in the treatment of pernicious anaemia.

[lightarrow]

Gallium, metallic element that remains in the liquid state over a wider range of temperatures than any other element.
...

I have ~ 30 g of it! Very amazing!
(Sometimes I make this joke: When liquid, I give it the shape of a little heart, then I freeze it at room T to make it solid; then, without saying what material it is, I ask a woman to take that shiny, hard, metal heart in her hand and I tell her that if she loves me, her heart will melt for me. After some minutes she opens her hand and...surprise!   [8D])

[yor_on]

Strange but nice:)
Like a personal library.

If I ever want to check up some chemical element.
But how about compounds?

[Chemistry4me]

But how about compounds?

This topic might never end if we go into compounds! Anything you have in mind?

[Chemistry4me]

I have ~ 30 g of it! Very amazing!
(Sometimes I make this joke: When liquid, I give it the shape of a little heart, then I freeze it at room T to make it solid; then, without saying what material it is, I ask a woman to take that shiny, hard, metal heart in his hand and I tell her that if she loves me, his heart will melt for me. After some minutes she opens his hand and...surprise!   [8D])

Very nice lightarrow  [] Very clever  [] Any other strange elements you got at home? []

[Chemistry4me]

Selenium (Greek, selēnē, “Moon”), Selenium is in group 16 of the periodic table. Chemically, selenium closely resembles sulphur and is related to tellurium. Like sulphur, it exists in several allotropic (distinctly different) forms: a brick-red powder; a brownish-black, glassy, amorphous mass called vitreous selenium; red monoclinic crystals of relative density 4.5; and grey, lustrous crystals called grey selenium. Grey selenium conducts electricity; it is a better conductor of electricity in light than in darkness, the conductivity varying directly with the intensity of light. It is therefore used in many photoelectric devices . In the form of red selenium or as sodium selenide the element is used to impart a scarlet red colour to clear glass, glazes, and enamels. It is also used to a great extent as a decolorizer of glass because it neutralizes the greenish tint produced by iron (ferrous) compounds. Small amounts of selenium are added to vulcanized rubber to increase its resistance to abrasion. Sodium selenate is an insecticide used to combat insects that attack cultivated plants, particularly chrysanthemums and carnations; the insecticide is scattered around the roots and is carried by the sap throughout the plant. Selenium sulphide is used in the treatment of dandruff, acne, eczema, seborrhoeic dermatitis, and other skin diseases. Selenium is also an essential micronutrient for animals and humans and it is found naturally in some soils. However, in larger amounts this element is toxic to animals, humans, and nearly all plants.

[Chemistry4me]

Bromine, poisonous element that at room temperature is a dark, reddish-brown liquid. In group 17 of the periodic table. Bromine is so similar in its chemical properties to chlorine, with which it is almost invariably associated, that it was not recognized as a separate element until 1826. At room temperature, bromine is an extremely volatile liquid, giving off a poisonous, suffocating, reddish vapour composed of diatomic molecules. If the liquid comes in contact with the skin, it causes sores that heal very slowly. Bromine is slightly soluble in water, 100 parts water dissolving about 4 parts bromine when cold or 3 parts when hot; at temperatures below 7° C  it forms, with water, a solid, reddish hydrate, Br2•10H2O. In the presence of alkalis, bromine reacts chemically with water to yield a mixture of hydrobromic acid (HBr), and hypobromous acid (HOBr). Bromine is very soluble in a wide variety of organic solvents, such as alcohol, ether, trichloromethane (chloroform), and carbon disulphide. It reacts chemically with many compounds and metallic elements and is slightly less active than chlorine. Bromine does not occur in nature as a free element, but is found in bromide compounds. It was formerly a by-product of the production of common salt or of potassium from brines rich in bromides. Bromine has been used in the preparation of certain dyes and of dibromoethane, a constituent of antiknock fluid for leaded petrol. Bromides are also used in photographic compounds and in natural gas and oil production.

[lightarrow]

I have ~ 30 g of it! Very amazing!
(Sometimes I make this joke: When liquid, I give it the shape of a little heart, then I freeze it at room T to make it solid; then, without saying what material it is, I ask a woman to take that shiny, hard, metal heart in his hand and I tell her that if she loves me, his heart will melt for me. After some minutes she opens his hand and...surprise!   [8D])

Very nice lightarrow  [] Very clever  [] Any other strange elements you got at home? []

Don't know if they could be considered strange, however I have bismuthe, mercury, tungsten, antimonium, iodine and many other compounds.

[Chemistry4me]

May I ask where you purchased these elements? From a company perhaps?

[lightarrow]

May I ask where you purchased these elements? From a company perhaps?

From a shop who sells chemicals and instruments for firms ( especially firms who work precious metals). If they don't have a chemical, it's possible to order it; however they don't sell forbidden chemicals. Some of the compounds I have, I prepared myself (copper acetate, lead nitrate, iodine, ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride, ecc.)

[yor_on]

Got to admit that I was teasing a little here.
As you say the list may never end if so.

But if we are discussing compounds?
Well, how about those new combinations they use in super conductive experiments.
http://www.nanotechnologydevelopment.com/energy/researchers-create-high-temperature-super-conducting-nanowires.html

Did you know that diamonds are superconductive too?
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news08/pm594e.html
Eh, those traces of boron do make it into a compound I hope?

Btw:
Read that "Gallium is a byproduct of the smelting of other metals, notably aluminum and zinc, and it is rarer than gold. "
You had thirty gram of it?
A layman 'Billionaire'

[lightarrow]

Read that "Gallium is a byproduct of the smelting of other metals, notably aluminum and zinc, and it is rarer than gold. "
You had thirty gram of it?
A layman 'Billionaire'

I paid it ~ 60€ if I remember correctly.

[yor_on]

A very good value it seems to me.
So many melted hearts from such a small investment
I will try the same.

Cross my heart and ..
Those videos are very nice Lightarrow.