Unusual | Interesting Facts About ELEMENTS II

Elements are simple substances which cannot be decomposed by chemical means. They are made up of atoms which are alike in their peripheral electronic configurations, their chemical properties, and in the number of protons in their nuclei. They may differ in the number of neutrons in their nuclei.
Below is the second (from Gold to Polonium) of the three parts of unusual and interesting facts about elements. Have fun on the listed interesting and unusual facts about elements!

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Gold
A soft, yellow, corrosion-resistant element, the most malleable and ductile metal, occurring in veins and alluvial deposits and recovered by mining or by panning or sluicing. A good thermal and electrical conductor, gold is generally alloyed to increase its strength, and it is used as an international monetary standard, in jewelry, for decoration, and as a plated coating on a wide variety of electrical and mechanical components. The most common uses of Gold are in Currency, Coinage, Jewellery, Tableware, Dental alloys and Electronics
The name originates from the Old English Anglo-Saxon word 'geolo' meaning yellow. The Symbol Origin is from the Latin word 'aurum' meaning gold. Argentina was named for this precious metal.

Common Uses of Gold
Precious metal
Currency
Coinage
Jewelry
Tableware
Dental alloys
Electronics

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Hafnium
A brilliant, silvery, metallic element separated from ores of zirconium and used in nuclear reactor control rods, as a getter for oxygen and nitrogen, and in the manufacture of tungsten filaments. The most common uses of Hafnium are in Nuclear reactors, Hafnium reactor, the Hafnium bomb, used in incandescent lamps and Tungsten filaments
The word Hafnium originates from the Latin Hafnia for "Copenhagen".

Common Uses of Hafnium
Nuclear reactors
Hafnium reactor
The Hafnium bomb
Used in incandescent lamps
Tungsten filaments

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Hassium
An artificially produced radioactive element with atomic number 108 whose most long-lived isotopes have mass numbers of 264 and 265 with half-lives of 0.08 milliseconds and 2 milliseconds, respectively. Other Names: Unniloctium (Uno), Hahnium (Hn).
The name originates from the Latin name for the German state of Hessen.

Common Uses of Hassium
No known use

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Helium
A colorless, odorless, inert gaseous element constituting approximately one percent of Earth's atmosphere, from which it is commercially obtained by fractionation for use in electric light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, and radio vacuum tubes and as an inert gas shield in arc welding.
The name originates from the Greek word 'helios' meaning the sun.

Common Uses of Helium
Component of artificial atmospheres and laser media
Refrigerant
Lifting gas for balloons
Superfluid in cryogenic research
Deep sea diving
Helium balloons, tanks, neon laser

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Holmium
A relatively soft, malleable, stable rare-earth element occurring in gadolinite, monazite, and other rare-earth minerals. The most common uses of Holmium are in Nuclear reactors.
The name originates from the Latin word Holmia meaning Stockholm.

Common Uses of Holmium
Nuclear reactors

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Hydrogen
A colorless, highly flammable gaseous element, the lightest of all gases and the most abundant element in the universe. Used in the production of synthetic ammonia and methanol, in petroleum refining, in the hydrogenation of organic materials, as a reducing atmosphere, in oxy-hydrogen torches, and in rocket fuels. The most common uses of Hydrogen are in Hydrogen Peroxide, H Bomb, Fuel Cells, Fuel, Hydrogen Generators, Hydrogen Powered Cars.
Hydrogen is French for water-maker, from the Greek word hudor meaning "water" and gennen meaning to "generate".

Common Uses of Hydrogen
Hydrogen Peroxide, H Bomb, Fuel Cells, Fuel, Hydrogen Generators, Hydrogen Powered Cars.

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Indium
A soft, malleable, silvery-white metallic element found primarily in ores of zinc and tin, used as a plating over silver in making mirrors, in plating aircraft bearings, and in compounds for making transistors.
The name originates from the color Indigo in its atomic spectrum.

Common Uses of Indium
Coating of high-speed bearings
Indium-tin-oxide thin films for liquid crystal displays (LCD)
Making mirrors
Making transistors
Photoconductors

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Iodine
A lustrous, violet-black, corrosive, poisonous halogen element having radioactive isotopes, especially I 131, used as a medical tracer and in thyroid disease diagnosis and therapy. Iodine compounds are used as germicides, antiseptics, and dyes.
The name originates from the Greek word Iodes meaning "violet".

Common Uses of Iodine
Germicides
Antiseptics
Dyes
Table salt
Organic chemistry
Photography

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Iridium
A very hard and brittle, exceptionally corrosion-resistant, whitish-yellow metallic element occurring in platinum ores and used principally to harden platinum and in high-temperature materials, electrical contacts, and wear-resistant bearings.
The name "iridium" originates from the Latin word meaning "of rainbows".

Common Uses of Iridium
Hardening agent in platinum alloys
Fountain pen nibs
Making crucibles
Electrical contacts
Spark plugs
Phones
Goggles
Denso iridium

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Iron
A heavy malleable ductile magnetic silver-white metallic element that readily rusts in moist air, occurs native in meteorites and combined in most igneous rocks, is the most used of metals, and is vital to biological processes as in transport of oxygen in the body.
The name originates from from the Latin word ferrum meaning iron. Its symbol 'Fe' is an abbreviation of ferrum.

Production of steel - the best known alloy of iron

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Krypton
A whitish, largely inert gaseous element used chiefly in gas discharge lamps and fluorescent lamps.
The name originates from the Greek word 'kryptos' meaning hidden.

Common Uses of Krypton
Photographic flash lamps
Gas discharge lamps
Fluorescent lamps

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Lanthanum
A soft, silvery-white, malleable, ductile, metallic rare-earth element, obtained chiefly from monazite and bastnaesite and used in glass manufacture and with other rare earths in carbon lights for movie and television studio lighting.
The name originates from the Greek word lanthanein meaning 'to lie hidden'.

Common Uses of Lanthanum
Glass manufacture
Carbon lights for movie and television studio lighting
Camera lenses

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Lawrencium
A radioactive transuranic element synthesized from californium.
Named in honour of Ernest O. Lawrence the inventor of the cyclotron.

Common Uses of Lawrencium
No Known uses

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Lead
A soft, malleable, ductile, bluish-white, dense metallic element, extracted chiefly from galena and used in containers and pipes for corrosives, solder and type metal, bullets, radiation shielding, paints, and antiknock compounds.
The name originates from the the Greek word protos meaning 'first' and the Symbol Origin 'Pb' from the Latin word plumbum meaning 'lead'. Plumbism is the medical term for lead poisoning

Common Uses of Lead
Plumbing
Solder
Shielding against radiation
Batteries

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Lithium
A soft, silvery, highly reactive metallic element that is used as a heat transfer medium, in thermo-nuclear weapons, and in various alloys, ceramics, and optical forms of glass.
Lithium comes from the Greek word lithos which means "stone".

Common Uses of Lithium
Lithium batteries
Lithium orotate, carbonate, polymer & bromide
Lithium ion battery

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Lutetium
A silvery-white rare-earth element that is exceptionally difficult to separate from the other rare-earth elements, used in nuclear technology.
The name originates from the Latin word Lutetia meaning Paris.

Common Uses of Lutetium
No known uses

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Magnesium
A light, silvery-white, moderately hard metallic element that in ribbon or powder form burns with a brilliant white flame. It is used in structural alloys, pyrotechnics, flash photography, and incendiary bombs.
The name originates from a Greek district in Thessaly called Magnesia.

Common Uses of Magnesium
Dead-burned magnesite is used as brick and liners in furnaces and converters
Photography - old type flash powder and flash bulbs
Flares
Pyrotechnics
Incendiary bombs
Airplanes
Missiles
Magnesium chloride, citrate, sulfate, oxide , hydroxide, stearate, taurate , sulphate and glycinate

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Manganese
A gray-white or silvery brittle metallic element, occurring in several allotropic forms, found worldwide, especially in the ores pyrolusite and rhodochrosite and in nodules on the ocean floor. It is alloyed with steel to increase strength, hardness, wear resistance, and other properties and with other metals to form highly ferromagnetic materials.
The Name Originates from the Latin word mangnes meaning magnet

Common Uses of Manganese
Batteries
Ceramics
Steel
Glass making

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Meitnerium
A short-lived radioactive element that is artificially produced. Other Name - Unnilennium (Une)
Named in honour of Lise Meitner the Austrian physicist and mathematician.

Common Uses of Meitnerium
No known use

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Mendelevium
A radioactive transuranic element synthesized by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles.
Named in honour of Dmitri Mendeleev

Common Uses of Mendelevium
No known use

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Mercury
A silvery-white poisonous metallic element, liquid at room temperature and used in thermometers, barometers, vapor lamps, and batteries and in the preparation of chemical pesticides.
It was named after the Roman god Mercury. Its symbol (Hg) comes from hydrargyrum from the Greek word hydrargyros meaning 'water' and 'silver'.

Common Uses of Mercury
Thermometers
Barometers
Fluorescent lamps
Batteries
Chemical pesticides

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Molybdenum
A hard, silvery-white metallic element used to toughen alloy steels and soften tungsten alloy. An essential trace element in plant nutrition, it is used in fertilizers, dyes, enamels, and reagents.
The name Molybdenum originates from the Greek word molubdos meaning "lead-like".

Common Uses of Molybdenum
High strength alloys
High temperature steels
Aircraft parts
Missile parts

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Neodymium
A bright, silvery rare-earth metal element, found in monazite and bastnaesite and used for coloring glass and for doping some glass lasers.
The name originates from the Greek words neos meaning new and 'didymos' meaning twin.

Common Uses of Neodymium
Coloring glass
Coloring ceramics
Infra-red radiation filtering

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Neon
A rare, inert gaseous element occurring in the atmosphere to the extent of 18 parts per million and obtained by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is colorless but glows reddish orange in an electric discharge and is used in displays and indicators.
The name originates from the Greek word 'neos' meaning new.

Common Uses of Neon
Neon lights / signs
High-voltage indicators,
Gas discharge Lightning arrestors,
Television tubes.

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Neptunium
A radioactive metallic element that is chemically similar to uranium and is obtained in nuclear reactors as a by-product in the production of plutonium
Neptunium was named after the planet Neptune

Common Uses of Neptunium
Neutron detection equipment

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Nickel
A silvery, hard, ductile, ferromagnetic metallic element used in alloys, in corrosion-resistant surfaces and batteries, and for electroplating.
Name Originates from the German word 'kupfernickel' meaning false copper from the deceptive copper color of the ore

Common Uses of Nickel
Coinage in the United States and Canada
Stainless steel
Corrosion-resistant alloys
Nickel plating
Burglar-proof vaults
Nickel-cadmium batteries

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Niobium
A silvery, soft, ductile metallic element that occurs chiefly in columbite-tantalite and is used in steel alloys, arc welding, and superconductivity research. This element is still widely referred to by its original name - Columbium.
Name Origin - Columbium was the name originally given to this element by Hatchet but IUPAC officially adopted "niobium" as the name originally given by Heinrich Rose in 1846. The word Niobium originates from Niobe, daughter of mythical Greek king Tantalus.

Common Uses of Niobium
Tantalum capacitor
Steel alloys
Tantalum plating
Hot metal spraying
Arc welding
Super-conductivity research

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Nitrogen
A non-metallic element that constitutes nearly four-fifths of the air by volume, occurring as a colorless, odorless, almost inert diatomic gas, N2, in various minerals and in all proteins and used in a wide variety of important manufactures, including ammonia, nitric acid, TNT, and fertilizers.
The name originates from the Greek Nitron and the Latin word nitrum meaning "genes" and "forming".

Common Uses of Nitrogen
Used as a coolant for the immersion freezing
Gunpowder
Fertilizer
Rocket fuels
Liquid nitrogen
Nitrogen dioxide, oxide
Nitrogen Generators

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Nobelium
A Radioactive metallic transuranic element, belonging to the actinoids. Also known as unnilbium.
Named in honour of Alfred Nobel

Common Uses of Nobelium
No known use

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Osmium
A bluish-white, hard metallic element, found in small amounts in osmiridium, nickel, and platinum ores. It is used as a platinum hardener and in making pen points, phonograph needles, and instrument pivots.
The name originates from the Greek word 'osme' meaning odor

Common Uses of Osmium
Alloyed with other metals
Fountain pen points
Phonograph needles
Light filaments
Instrument pivots
Electrical contacts
Jewelry
Osmium tetroxide - tetraoxide

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Oxygen
A colorless tasteless odourless gaseous element that constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere and is found in water, in most rocks and minerals, and in numerous organic compounds, that is capable of combining with all elements except the inert gases, that is active in physiological processes, and that is involved especially in combustion processes. The most common uses of Oxygen are in Oxidizer, Rocket propulsion, Medicine, Welding, Sensors, Mask and Concentrators.
The name originates from the Greek words gennan meaning 'generate' and oxus meaning 'acid' - so named because it was believed that all acids contained oxygen.

Common Uses of Oxygen
Oxidizer
Rocket propulsion
Medicine
Welding
Oxygen sensors
Oxygen mask
Oxygen concentrator

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Palladium
A soft, ductile, steel-white, tarnish-resistant, metallic element occurring naturally with platinum, especially in gold, nickel, and copper ores. Because it can absorb large amounts of hydrogen, it is used as a purification filter for hydrogen and a catalyst in hydrogenation. It is alloyed for use in electric contacts, jewelry, nonmagnetic watch parts, and surgical instruments. The element played an essential role in the Fleischmann-Pons experiment, also known as cold fusion.
Named after the asteroid Pallas which was discovered two years before in 1801.

Common Uses of Palladium
Electric contacts
Jewelry
Nonmagnetic watch parts
Surgical instruments
Similar to gold, palladium can be beaten into a thin leaf form
Telecommunications switching-system equipment

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Phosphorus
A highly reactive, poisonous, non-metallic element occurring naturally in phosphates, especially apatite, and existing in three allotropic forms, white (or sometimes yellow), red, violet and black. An essential constituent of protoplasm, it is used in safety matches, pyrotechnics, incendiary shells, and fertilizers and to protect metal surfaces from corrosion.
The name originates from the Greek words phos meaning light and phoros meaning bearer.

Common Uses of Phosphorus
Safety matches
Pyrotechnics
Incendiary shells
Fertilizers
Steel production
Incendiary bombs
Pyrotechnics
Pesticides

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Platinum
A silver-white metallic element occurring worldwide, usually mixed with other metals such as iridium, osmium, or nickel. It is ductile and malleable, does not oxidize in air, and is used as a catalyst and in electrical components, jewelry, dentistry, and electroplating.
The name originates from the Spanish word platina meaning 'little silver'

Common Uses of Platinum
Used in catalytic converters for automobiles
Making crucibles
Coating missile nose cones
Jet engine fuel nozzles
Medical treatments of cancer

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Plutonium
A radioactive metallic element similar chemically to uranium that is formed as the isotope 239 by decay of neptunium and found in minute quantities in pitchblende, that undergoes slow disintegration with the emission of an alpha particle to form uranium 235, and that is fissionable with slow neutrons to yield atomic energy.
The name originates from the the planet Pluto.

Common Uses of Plutonium
Radiological weapons
Poison
Electrical power generation

Interesting|Unusual Facts About Polonium
A radioactive metallic element that is similar chemically to tellurium and bismuth, occurs especially in pitchblende and radium-lead residues, and emits an alpha particle to form an isotope of lead. Also called Radium F.
The name originates from Poland the home of Marie Curie. Madame Curie was born Maria Sklodowski in Warsaw, Poland in 1867.

Common Uses of Polonium
Thermoelectric power in space satellites
To eliminate static charges
Removes dust from photographic films

Source: http://www.facts-about.org.uk/index-elements.htm
Unusual|Interesting Facts About ELEMENTS part I
Unusual|Interesting Facts About ELEMENTS part III

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