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Happy Birthday Madame Curie!

Marie Curie was a Polish physicist and chemist who lived between 1867-1934. Together with her husband, Pierre, she discovered two new elements and studied the x-rays they emitted.

Three new elements are named!

The General Assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)approved the names of three elements on Friday. Elements 110, 111 and 112 are officially named darmstadtium (Ds), roentgenium (Rg) and copernicium (Cn). Of course, these names have been unofficially listed on the periodic table since they were first proposed to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). 

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Elements Song

Chrome vs. chromium?

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between chrome and chromium? Chromium is an element. It is a hard, corrosion-resistant transition metal. Chrome, which you may see as decorative trim on cars and motorcycles or to harden tools used for industrial processes, is an electroplated layer of chromium over another metal.

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How Elements Get Named

Do you know which element is Azote, with the symbol Az? Element names are not the same in every country. Many countries have adopted the element names that have been agreed upon by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). According to the IUPAC, "elements can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property, or a scientist".

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Fun Periodic Table Facts!

The Periodic Table is a chart which arranges the chemical elements in a useful, logical manner. Elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number, lined up so that elements which exhibit similar properties are arranged in the same row or column as each other. The Periodic Table is one of the most useful tools of chemistry and the other sciences. Here are 10 fun and interesting Periodic Table facts.

Fun oxygen facts

Oxygen is one of those elements you simply can't live without. You find it in the air your breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat. Here are some quick facts about this important element. You can find more detailed information about oxygen on the oxygen facts page.

1. Animals and plants require oxygen for respiration.

2. Oxygen gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless.

3. Liquid and solid oxygen are pale blue.

4. Oxygen is a non-metal.

5. Oxygen gas normally is the divalent molecule O2. Ozone, O3, is another form of pure oxygen.

6. Oxygen supports combustion.

7. Oxygen is paramagnetic.

8. Approximately 2/3 of the mass of the human body is oxygen.

9. Excited oxygen is responsible for the bright red and yellow-green colors of the aurora.

10. Oxygen was the atomic weight standard for the other elements until 1961 when it was replaced by carbon 12.

Keywords: elements, molecule, naming

Fireworks for New Years

Many people associate fireworks with Independence Day, but they are a big part of New Year's celebrations, too. Do you know how fireworks were invented? Legend tells of a Chinese cook who accidentally spilled saltpeter into a cooking fire, producing an interesting flame. Saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder, was used as a flavoring salt sometimes. The other gunpowder ingredients, charcoal and sulfur, were also common in early fires. Though the mixture burned with a pretty flame in a fire, it exploded if it was enclosed in a bamboo tube. This serendipitous invention of gunpowder appears to have occurred about 2000 years ago, with exploding firecrackers produced later during the Song dynasty (960-1279) by a Chinese monk named Li Tian, who lived near the city of Liu Yang in Hunan Province. These firecrackers were bamboo shoots filled with gunpowder. They were exploded at the commencement of the new year to scare away evil spirits. Much of the modern focus of fireworks is on light and color, but loud noise (known as "gung pow" or "bian pao") was desirable in a religious firework, since that was what frightened the spirits. By the 15th century, fireworks were a traditional part of other celebrations, such as military victories and weddings. The Chinese story is well-known, though it's possible fireworks really were invented in India or Arabia.

World's Smallest Periodic Table Is Engraved on a Single Hair - Topix

World's Smallest Periodic Table Is Engraved on a Single Hair - Topix

Elements in Japanese!

Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" animated