The King of the Elements

[H2SO4]

Im just curious, why nitrogen?

[Nevermore]

I have no idea, I just like it.

[jdurg]

Asking me what my favorite is would be like asking a parent who their favorite child is. I just cannot make that decision. What my favorite element is changes depending on my mood. I will always have a soft spot for bromine because it's so neat looking, and chlorine because I actually made and purified it myself. But depending on what time of the day or week it is, my favorite element can change to just about anything.

[Flareon]

Yes but Fuorine cant realy be handled, expierenced, if you know what i mean. I mean you cant even store it in conventional glass tubes. It is pretty cool, its supposedly the most reactive substance known to man.

 

True, but if it were easily handled, it wouldn't be king. Fluorine demands respect.

[Mendelejev]

I've made a little table with the elements that you have chosen. As you can see copper and bismuth are winning with 3 votes, but don't forget ... you can pick just ONE element, not four or five !! For the moment I've counted every element I saw in the messages, but it would be better if everybody would choose just one element. Don't kill me if I've made some mistakes while I was counting.

 

I was just thinking ... why not element 101 : MENDELEVIUM ! It was Dmitri Ivanovich Mendelejev who made this table actually. He's the brain behind it. What do you think ??

[The Thing]

Yes but Fuorine cant realy be handled, expierenced, if you know what i mean. I mean you cant even store it in conventional glass tubes. It is pretty cool, its supposedly the most reactive substance known to man.

Well, yea, but that's why I consider Platinum to be the king of elements. Platinum can contain fluorine.

[budullewraagh]

" its supposedly the most reactive substance known to man."

fluorine monoxide and dioxide are more reactive. so is hypofluorous acid and probably all hypofluoride salts. dont forget permanganyl fluoride, fluorine nitrate, etc

 

WHERE IS MY PHOSPHORUS????????????

come on man. and seriously, people should like phosphorus

[Lance]

 

WHERE IS MY PHOSPHORUS????????????

come on man. and seriously' date=' people should like phosphorus[/quote']

 

I am only considering elements I have personal experience with though. I don't yet have any in my collection.

[jdurg]

The more elements you put into your collection, the harder it is to have a 'favorite'. I think phosphorus is an incredibly neat element only because there are so many ways you can have it, and each way has its own very unique features. White phosphorus is a nice, wax-like substance that will ignite if it sees air. Red phosphorus is a bright red substance that smells a bit like a burnt match, and if mixed with some potassium chlorate will ignite if struck by a hard object. Black phosphorus is basically an inert crystal which has many properties similar to that of graphite, and looks very much like graphite too. Violet phosphorus looks a bunch like black phosphorus, but has a glossier sheen to it and you can see parts where it is converting into red phosphorus. It's pretty interesting seeing four different allotropes of the same substance.

 

Carbon is pretty similar, as I have some graphite, amorphous carbon, and diamond. Hard to believe that they are all the same thing, really. (That can also be said with my red and crystalline Selenium). I'd love to get some yellow arsenic, but the stuff apparently decomposes back into standard gray/metallic arsenic upon exposure to light.

 

If I had to pick a "GROUP" of elements to call my favorites, it would be a toss-up between the alkali metals and the halogens. While the PGMs are all very beautiful elements, you routinely see them in their pure forms in the way of coins, jewelry, and bullion. However, you don't always get to see the alkali metals and halogens as pure elements. Seeing chlorine gas get made right in front of your eyes is an amazing thing to see. Seeing pure, clean, unoxidized sodium metal is a treat since you can see that it is indeed a metal. Generally, when you see sodium you only see the oxidized, corroded form. If you do see the clean metal, it's for a few seconds after you've cut into it.

[budullewraagh]

phosphorus allotropes:

[jdurg]

Good god! Though how many of those are actually stable at room temperature and under "normal" conditions? (I.E. does exposure to light cause it to form another one, or is it only a certain allotrope at a high temperature, etc. etc.)

[H2SO4]

Hydrogen is amazing also. It is by no doubt the most unique element. This explains why it has its only area on the preiodci table.

[budullewraagh]

yes, jdurg, the above chart is one of the many reasons why phosphorus is the coolest element.

 

many of those allotropes are hard to find information about. this summer when i have access to harvard libraries, i'll look for phosphorus books

[Guest raisinflames]

Carbon AND hydrogen- you can't really separate the two.

 

(Or silicon instead of carbon

[Guest nerdster]

either sodium or chlorine...probly since i'm working with them both at the moment....they're both so reactive and powerful...my third choise would be magnesium.

[Mendelejev]

either sodium or chlorine...probly since i'm working with them both at the moment....they're both so reactive and powerful...my third choise would be magnesium.

 

I understand why you've chosen sodium or chlorine to become King of the elements ! But why would you chose magnesium ?? Is there also a special reason for it ? Just out of curiousity

[budullewraagh]

the heat of vaporization of magnesium is incredible

[chemi]

We should divide the contest into categories.

 

the most important element: oxygen

the most beautiful element: silver/copper

the most unique element: mercury

[jdurg]

I also can't forget to mention Indium metal. The stuff holds its shine for a near infinite amount of time as it really doesn't oxidize all that much, and it's as soft as clay. It has a low melting point so you can easily cast items with it on a typical hotplate or stovetop, or you can make your own little ingots of the stuff. (If your mold is nice and clean, you can wind up with a beautiful mirror finish on it). To top it all off, it's radioactive! (95% of all naturally occuring Indium is In-115 which is a radioactive isotope with a VERY long half-life. As a result, Indium could be considered radioactive, but the radiation is so low and of such a low energy level that it really poses no danger and can barely be detected).

[dan19_83]

Is everyone here forgetting the king of all elements.

it is the chosen element, the one, if you like!

 

Neo-n!

[budullewraagh]

i love indium. my gf works with the perchlorate and makes indium nanowire. fun stuff

[H2SO4]

whats softer indium or gold. Im guessing indium. I thought bismuth was the first unstable nucleus (beside technetium, but thats just a tripping element).

[jdurg]

Indium is softer than gold. Indium is about as soft as lithium metal is.

 

Bismuth is 'technically' not 'stable' as it has a half life in excess of a few hundred trillion years, I believe. So for all intents and purposes, it's stable. The only two elements with atomic numbers less than 83 which have ZERO stable nuclei are Technetium (43) and Promethium (61).

[quick silver]

my favorite element would be plutonium.

[jdurg]

I also should add that Tellurium is another amazing little element that tends to get overlooked. It is the classical metalloid in that it looks like a metal; is reflective like a metal; but is nothing like a metal. It's brittle; doesn't conduct electricity all too well; it forms negative ions; and its oxides tend to be acidic. Tellurium can also form wonderful looking ingots if cast properly, and in the same form it can show off its metallic and non-metallic traits. Plus, Te can also give you some of the worst B.O. you will ever experience. Just a tiny bit of Te or Te compounds are all you need to have weeks of nasty body odor. Kind of a neat trait, isn't it?