Elemental Categories Trivia Quiz

Answer: Perfect Square Atomic Number

Fermium (Fm, atomic number 100) is the heaviest man-made element that can be produced by neutron bombardment of lighter elements. (Elements 101-118 are made by colliding the nuclei of two lighter atoms.)

Fermium is named after Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, who passed away shortly before the discovery of the element was publicized. Fermi developed the first artificial self-sustained nuclear reactor.

Fermium was discovered in 1952 by US scientists, but it was not publicized because the process that produced it was top secret and the Cold War was at its height. In 1954 a Swedish group at the Nobel Institute for Physics independently discovered the element. However, the precedence of the US team was recognized, and they were given the prerogative to name it.

Because of the minute quantities produced and its short half-life, Fermium has no commercial uses. It is therefore used for scientific research in the properties of other artificial heavy elements.

Answer: Perfect Square Atomic Number

Thallium (Tl, atomic number 81) has a green spectral line, which was used as the basis for its name (Greek thallos - green shoot or twig). It was isolated independently by two chemists in 1862.

Thallium and its compounds are toxic. Thallium sulfate has been used as an ant and rodent killer. However, its use as such in the US has been banned since 1975.

Answer: Perfect Square Atomic Number

Gadolinium (Gd, atomic number 64) is primarily found in the mineral gadolinite, which is named after Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin.

Gadolinium was used as a phosphor in color TV sets. It is ferromagnetic, which it loses at just above room temperature. It could therefore be used as a magnetic component that can sense hot and cold.

Answer: Perfect Square Atomic Number

Indium (In, atomic number 49) is named for its indigo (bright purple) spectral line. Before 1924, the world's supply of indium was only about a gram. In modern times, millions of troy ounces of indium are produced per year.

Indium is used to make low-melting alloys. It is very useful in electronics production, being used in transistors, rectifiers, thermistors, and photoconductors.

Answer: One Letter Symbol

Oxygen (O, atomic number 8) gets its name from the Greek: oxys - acid, and genes - forming. It was believed to be a constituent of all acids.

Oxygen is the third-most abundant element in the sun, the second-most abundant in Earth's atmosphere, and makes up 49.2% of the mass of the Earth's crust.

Free oxygen gas (O2) was practically non-existent in Earth's atmosphere until life forms that carried out photosynthesis evolved. Their production of oxygen ultimately caused the Great Oxygenation Event (2.4 billion years ago), which caused the extinction of most anaerobic organisms.

Answer: One Letter Symbol

Iodine (I, atomic number 53) gets its name from the Greek: iodes - violet.

Though exposure to pure iodine causes skin lesions and eye and mucous membrane irritation, it is essential to health. Nutritional lack of iodine causes goiter, a swelling of the thyroid gland in the neck of humans.

Answer: One Letter Symbol

Uranium (U, atomic number 92) is named after the planet Uranus, which was itself named after the Greek god of the sky. Even though it was not identified as an element until 1789, its oxide was used since the 1st century CE as a yellow coloring agent in ceramic glazes.

In 1896, Antoine Becquerel discovered that uranium emitted invisible light; this became known as radioactivity. In 1934, research led to the use of uranium fission as a weapon of war and later as a peacetime fuel for atomic reactors.

Uranium is the heaviest naturally-occurring element available in sizable quantities.

Answer: One Letter Symbol

Yttrium (Y, atomic number 39) is named after Ytterby, Sweden, where it was first discovered in a quarry. Three other elements -- ytterbium, erbium, and terbium -- are also named for the village.

Yttrium compounds were used as red phosphors in color television tubes.

Answer: Named after a country

Germanium (Ge, atomic number 32) is named from the Latin word Germania, simply meaning Germany.

Mendeleev predicted its existence based on his periodic table theory, calling it ekasilicon. It was eventually discovered by Winkler in 1886.

Germanium, when doped with arsenic, gallium, or other elements is used as a component of transistors in many electronic applications.

Answer: Named after a country

Francium (Fr, atomic number 87) is named for the country of France. It was discovered in 1939 by Marguerite Perey of the Curie Institute in Paris, France.

Though it does exist in uranium minerals, there is less than an ounce of francium at any given time in the crust of the Earth.

Since its longest-lived isotope, Fr-223, only has a half-life of 22 minutes, little is known about francium's chemical properties. Its location on the periodic table would suggest it is highly reactive like other alkali metals.

Answer: Named after a country

Nihonium (Nh, atomic number 113) was named by its discoverers at RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science in Japan. The name comes from "nihon", meaning "land of the rising sun"; that is, Japan.

Being a transuranic element, little is known of its chemical properties.

Answer: Named after a country

Ruthenium (Ru, atomic number 44) is named after the Latin word Ruthenia, which means Russia. It was initially found in the residues after dissolving crude platinum from the Ural mountains in aqua regia.

Ruthenium doesn't tarnish at room temperatures, but it does oxidize explosively.

Answer: Named after a city

Lutetium (Lu, atomic number 71) is named after the ancient name for Paris: Lutetia.

Stable lutetium can be used as catalysts is cracking, alkylation, hydrogenation, and polymerization.

Answer: Named after a city

Hafnium (Hf, atomic number 72) comes from the Latin name for Copenhagen: Hafinia.

The element has a good absorption cross section for thermal neutrons, and is highly corrosion-resistant. Because of this, it is used for nuclear reactor control rods, such as the ones in nuclear submarines.

Answer: Named after a city

Ytterbium (Yb, atomic number 70) is one of four elements named for the village in Sweden near the quarry which it was first found; the other elements are yttrium, erbium, and terbium.

Ytterbium has potential use in improving stainless steel's qualities, such as strength and grain refinement.

Answer: Named after a city

Holmium (Ho, atomic number 67) comes from the Latin name for Stockholm: Holmia.

The metal has unusual magnetic properties. However, few uses have been found for this element.