Elements and Places Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hafnium

Aside from being used in electrodes and filaments and other electronic applications, hafnium is also used in nuclear reactors as a neutron moderator. It has a steel gray appearance, and was discovered in 1923 by Coster & Hevesy. Copenhagen was previously known as Hafnia.

Answer: Berkelium

Berkelium is very rare and toxic, and it does not have any commercial uses at the time of writing. It was named after the University of California - Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which are found in Berkeley, California.

Answer: Gallium

Gallium takes its name from Gallia, the old Latin name for France. Aside from its use as a dopant in semiconductors, it is also an alternative to mercury in thermometers.

Answer: Copper

Copper, which has been extracted from Cyprus since 4000 BC, used to be considered an ornamental metal, too soft to be of practical use for tools or weapons of war. However, when it is smelted with tin to form a bronze alloy, the strength of bronze is significantly higher, and it is much more useful.

Answer: Lutetium

The old Latin name for Paris was Lutetia. The element lutetium was first discovered in a laboratory in Paris, and so was named in honor of the city. It is sometimes used in conjunction with other elements for radioactive dating.

Answer: Scandium

This element's existence was first predicted by Mendeleev, who named it "ekaboron". It was later discovered by Swedish chemist Nilson. This rare earth metal is present in a lot of mineral deposits, but its low concentration often makes it difficult and unfeasible to extract for commercial purposes.

Answer: Polonium

Marie Curie was Polish by birth, but was later a naturalized French citizen. She is renowned for being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (Physics, 1903), and she went on to win a second in a different field (Chemistry, 1911). Polonium is used as a heat source for equipment in space.

Answer: Uranium

Uranium is found naturally in pitchblende (now called uraninite). Its two most commonly occurring natural isotopes have atomic masses of 238 and 235 amu, and they are used in estimating the age of the Earth. It has been used in nuclear reactors, but the possibility of its being weaponized (for nuclear bombs) has led some researchers to seek out other alternative radioactive elements such as thorium.

Answer: Helium

Although balloons are the first thing that most people think of when they hear about helium, this gas is used in much more sophisticated applications, such as in MRI scanners and cryogenics. The name comes from the Greek name for the sun, Helios.

Answer: 4

Ytterbium, terbium, erbium, and yttrium are all named after this town. These elements are all found in gadolinite, a rock that was first found in this town's quarry. These four elements were discovered between 1794 to 1878. In addition to these four, other new elements were also discovered in the rock (though these have not been named after the town).