Will the Real Element Please Stand Up? Quiz

Answer: Einsteinium

Scientists who have had elements named after them typically worked in areas relating to atomic science. Einsteinium (symbol Es, atomic number 99) was named after Albert Einstein, and is a synthetic metallic element that was first discovered in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952.

It can also be produced in some high-power nuclear reactors at a rate of about one milligram per year, although its isotopes have half-lives ranging from less than 30 minutes to 471.7 days, so it is short-lived. Einsteinium glows in the dark because of its high radioactivity.

Answer: Krypton

It may be the name of a fictional planet (where Superman was born), but krypton is also a real element. Krypton (symbol Kr, atomic number 36) is a colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas that was discovered in Britain in 1898 by Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay.

It is found in the atmosphere at around 1 part per million. Along with argon and other noble gases, krypton is used in light bulbs and fluorescent tubes. It is also employed in flash bulbs used for high-speed photography. Between 1960 and 1983, the metric length of a metre was defined as the wavelength of light emitted by the krypton-86 isotope.

Answer: Francium

Other elements which were named after countries or continents include Germanium, Polonium, Americium and Europium. Francium (symbol Fr, atomic number 87) is a radioactive metal that was discovered in 1939 by Marguerite Perey who named it after her homeland.

It was the last naturally-occurring element to be discovered, and is the second-rarest non-synthetic element (after astatine). Francium forms from the decay of heavier elements, and decays into astatine, radium, and radon. Its most stable isotope has a half-life of only 22 minutes.

It is thought that only 1 ounce of francium exists in the Earth's crust at any given time.

Answer: Niobium

Niobium (symbol Nb, atomic number 41) is a rare transition metal which is soft, gray and ductile. It was discovered by the English chemist Charles Hatchett in 1801 who named it columbium, but because its properties were similar to the element tantalum, another English chemist, William Hyde Wollaston, concluded that the two were one and the same.

It was not until 1846 that the German chemist Heinrich Rose determined that tantalum ores contained another element, which he named niobium (after Niobe, the daughter of the Greek god Tantalus).

The names columbium and niobium were used interchangeably for the element until 1949, when the latter was formally adopted. Niobium is used in alloys to improve strength and temperature stability, a quality which makes it useful in gas pipelines, jet engines and superconducting magnets.

Answer: Neptunium

Neptunium (symbol Np, atomic number 93) is the first transuranic element, and it was named after the planet Neptune for this reason (Neptune being the next planet after Uranus in the solar system). It was discovered in 1940 by Edwin McMillan and Philip H. Abelson at the the University of California, Berkeley, after they bombarded uranium with neutrons, thus it holds the distinction of being the first element to be produced synthetically (although it also exists in nature as a decay product in uranium ores).

Whilst Neptunium could in theory be used to make nuclear weapons, its only current application is in devices which detect high-energy neutrons. The other elements named after planets are Uranium and Plutonium (Pluto was considered to be a true planet at the time).

Answer: Bromine

Bromine (symbol Br, atomic number 35) holds the distinction of being the only element other than mercury which is a liquid at room temperature. A corrosive and toxic red-brown substance, bromine was first discovered after it was isolated from mineral halide salts in 1825 by German chemist Carl Jacob Lowig, before being independently discovered by French chemist Antoine Jerome Balard in 1826. Bromine's main industrial use is as a fire retardant, although it also has applications in photo developing, dyes, and agricultural chemicals.

It was formerly used as a sedative and anticonvulsant in medicine, and still has limited use as a gasoline additive (ethylene bromide), where it acts as a lead scavenger.

Answer: Thorium

Named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder, thorium (symbol Th, atomic number 90) is a silver-white metallic radioactive element which has a long half-life of around 14 billion years. First identified in 1828, thorium has been used in metal alloys, ceramics and optical lenses, and as a light-emitting material in gas mantles.

It also has potential as a far safer alternative to uranium as a fuel in next-generation nuclear reactors (eg, molten salt reactors). It has been estimated that there are sufficient reserves of thorium for thorium reactors to meet the world's entire electrical energy needs for over 1000 years.

Answer: Antimony

Antimony (symbol Sb, atomic number 51) is described as a toxic metalloid element. It was recognised as far back as 3000 BC when it was used in Mesopotamia in the manufacture of ornaments, and it would later be used in medieval alchemy. Its symbol, Sb, is thought to come from the Latin word 'stibium', and the ore from which it is mainly extracted is called stibnite. Antimony is used today as a flame retardant.

It also forms part of an alloy with lead which is useful in lead-acid batteries, and as part of other alloys which make solder and pewter. Antimony poisoning is similar to that of arsenic.

Answer: Californium

Californium (symbol Cf, atomic number 98) is a radioactive element that was first produced at the University of California, Berkeley, in February 1950, and was named after both the state and the university. The sixth transuranium element to be synthesised, californium is one of the few transuranium elements to have practical applications, due to its ability to emit large numbers of neutrons.

A single microgram of californium-252 can emit 139 million neutrons per minute. This makes it useful for starting up certain types of nuclear reactors, and for devices which use neutrons to detect things like bad welds, corrosion, and petroleum layers in oil wells. Neutrons from californium are also used in the treatment of some types of tumour, although the element itself is highly toxic.

Answer: Seaborgium

It might sound like an aquatic Swedish tennis player, but Seaborgium (symbol Sg, atomic number 106) is actually a synthetic element that was first created in 1974 at the Super HILAC accelerator at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, in California. It was named in honor of the American chemist Glenn T. Seaborg, who had participated in the discovery of other elements, however the original proposal of this name was met with controversy because Seaborg was still living at the time.

The name was formally adopted and recognised internationally in 1997.

The most stable isotope of this element has a half-life of only 1.9 minutes.