Element-ary, My Dear Watson Trivia Quiz

Answer: K

K is the symbol for potassium which is an alkali metal necessary for the proper functioning of the heart, kidneys, muscles, nerves and digestive system. The chemical symbol "K" is from the Latin word for alkali, i.e., kalium. Potassium is found in "high concentrations"* in plant cells, fruits (especially bananas), vegetables like spinach, tomatoes and peas, turkey, beef and salmon. Too much potassium can cause heart damage, while too little can create digestive problems.

As for the incorrect choices: P is for phosphorus, Sn ("stannum" in Latin) represents tin and Fe ("ferrum") is iron.

Answer: Mercury

Mercury is the only metal which takes the form of a liquid at room temperature. The chemical symbol for mercury is Hg which comes from the Greek word hydrargyrum meaning liquid silver. Mercury has been used in thermometers and sphygmomanometers (for blood pressure) but, due to concerns about its toxicity, is being phased out.

It is still used as an amalgam for "dental restoration"* and in lighting. The ancient Greeks used mercury in salves and ointments, while the Egyptians and Romans used it in cosmetics (NOT a good idea!) Ancient Chinese alchemists developed a mercury and jade mixture to give eternal life which, when ingested, caused liver failure and brain death.

Answer: Polonium

Did you think it was curium? No, that was named after Marie and Pierre Curie, not BY them. Marie Sklodowska Curie, born in 1867, named polonium after her homeland of Poland, hoping that name would bring attention to the fact that Poland was not free but, rather, partitioned by the Russians, Prussians and Austrians, i.e., "the first element named to highlight a political controversy"*.

She discovered polonium after removing the radioactive elements uranium and thorium from the mineral pitchblende.

A short time after that, the Curies discovered radium. Unfortunately, the radioactivity in these elements caused aplastic pernicious anemia in Madame Curie who died in 1934.

Answer: Saturnium

Were you fooled? There is no such element as saturnium (though it does have a nice ring to it!). Tellurium is named for "tellus", the Latin word meaning "earth". Other elements named after planets are: uranium after Uranus; neptunium named after Neptune which was, in turn, named for the Roman god of the sea, and plutonium for Pluto (and Roman god of the Underworld, NOT Mickey Mouse's dog) before it was demoted from the ninth planet to a "dwarf planet". Cerium was named after Ceres (another dwarf planet) and Palladium was named after Pallas, the second asteroid discovered after Ceres. Mercury is not included here since it was named for the god, not the planet.

Answer: Berkelium

While there are many element toponyms or elements named after places, Berkelium (Bk) is named for the University of California at Berkeley because it was synthesized during research projects performed at Berkeley's physics laboratory. The other choices are also element toponyms but are ALL named after the Swedish village of Ytterby: Erbium, Terbium, Ytterbium and Yttrium, four rare-earth elements of the periodic table named after one village on a tiny island in the Stockholm archipelago. How could this be, you might ask? It seems that the Ytterby ("it-ter-bee") mine was opened in the late 1700s to find feldspar and became "the Galapagos of the periodic table"*.

Answer: Calcium

Calcium is indeed vital to human growth and health. It also helps muscle growth as well as electrical impulses to the brain, and is necessary to maintain proper blood pressure and to aid in blood clotting. Without enough of this critical element, our chances of getting colon cancer and osteoporosis are greatly increased...so get your Vitamin D and drink your milk! As for the incorrect choices: aluminum may be involved in "the action of a small number of enzymes"* but has also been linked with Alzheimer's disease; cobalt has no function by itself but is necessary for the formation of Vitamin B-12, and while arsenic can aid in growth, it can also be toxic!

Answer: Sodium

I figured it was time for something a little easier. Sodium and chlorine form sodium chloride (NaCl), i.e., salt or halite which is a "crystalline mineral"* essential for animal life but can, in excess, also be harmful. Salt is one of the oldest seasonings known to man and is an important method of food preservation. Additionally, saltiness is one of the four basic human tastes along with bitterness, sourness and (my personal favorite) sweetness; however, some authorities have begun to add a fifth category called "umami" which is described as a "savory or meaty taste"*, and which is considered fundamental to Eastern cuisines.

Answer: Carbon

If you have ever watched a science fiction movie, you may know that humans are classified as a "carbon-based life form". DNA, sugar, fats and proteins are all composed of carbon. Since ancient times, man has been aware of the existence of carbon in soot, graphite, charcoal and diamonds.

In 1772, French scientist Antoine Lavoisier named carbon from the Latin carbo or "coal" and, since carbon forms the framework for plant and animal tissues, life as we know it could not exist without carbon. Carbon forms more compounds than any other element and "because of its willingness to bond to other non-metallic elements, it is often referred to as the building block of life."*

Answer: Tungsten

While carbon is technically the element with the highest melting point, it is considered a non-metal (and was, therefore, not included in the choices). Tungsten, also known as wolfram, has the chemical symbol W and comes from the Swedish words tung sten, which translates as "heavy stone". Tungsten not only has the highest melting point (of the metals), i.e., 3,422 degrees Centigrade or 6,192 degrees Fahrenheit, it has the lowest vapor pressure and the highest tensile strength.

It is used in producing hard materials and armaments.

The incorrect choices are all metals, but all with a lower melting point than tungsten.

Answer: Goldeneye

"Goldeneye"(1995), the seventeenth of the Bond movies (excluding "Casino Royale" from 1967 and "Never Say Never Again" from 1983), was the first to star Pierce Brosnan as Bond and Judi Dench as M, Bond's boss. The plot is rather convoluted (not unusual) and involves Bond going up against the Russian Mafia and the beautiful villain, Xenia Onatopp, to find the controls to "Goldeneye", a "high tech satellite weapons system"*. If you're still interested, see the film.

The incorrect choices are: "Pushing Tin" (1999) about the feud between two air traffic controllers; "Silverado", a 1985 Western; and "Carbon Copy", a 1981 comedy about a white executive and his black son.