This awesome periodic table tells you how to actually use all those elements

But whether you’re looking at something common like calcium, iron, and carbon, or something more obscure like krypton and antimony, how well do you know their functions? Could you name just one practical application for vanadium or ruthenium?

More…

Ta. I didn’t know strontium was used in fireworks.

Bubblecar said:

Ta. I didn’t know strontium was used in fireworks.

Popular with mutant dogs

Strontium is the evil twin of calcium

Bubblecar said:

Ta. I didn’t know strontium was used in fireworks.

I did. It’s a colouring agent, glows bright red.

I didn’t know thulium for laser eye surgery or cerium for lighter flints.
I’ve only noticed cerium used in anti-corrosion coatings, as a replacement for chromium.

Let’s see what else strikes me as unexpected:
Boron for sports equipment.
Scandium for bicycles.
Gallium for LEDs. (Isn’t it sometimes used for nuclear radiation shielding?)
Selenium for copiers.
Rubidium for global navigation. (I know it from atomic clocks).
Niobium for mag-lev. (A component of LHC magnets).
I did know that rhenium was used in some rocket engines, not often, it’s sometimes used on the expansion cones because of its high melting point.
Bismuth for fire sprinklers
Ruthenium, Rhodium, Indium. Antimony, Tellurium, Hafnium, Osmium. Iridium, Thallium, Polonium, Astatine.

Nice table.

Which is the least useful of the elements on this table?

Mercury

Where Can Mercury Be Found?

Mercury is a silvery liquid metal at room temperature. Mercury conducts electricity, expands uniformly with temperature and easily forms alloys with other metals. For these reasons, it is used in many products found in homes and schools. Mercury is also an element that occurs naturally in the earth’s surface. It does not degrade and is not destroyed by combustion. Instead, mercury changes into a vapor that can travel long distances when volatilized. Mercury cycles between soils, the atmosphere and surface waters. Its toxicity can endanger living organisms and produce adverse health effects in humans.

http://www.test4mercury.com/Find_mercury.htm

———-

Quite a few uses there but most are being phased out.

Temperature-sensitive and mechanical (tilt) switches are not going away.

Which two symbols for elements on this table are also pronouns?

Ian said:

Which two symbols for elements on this table are also pronouns?

He would be one

Tamb said:

Ian said:

Which two symbols for elements on this table are also pronouns?

He would be one

And I would be the other.

Tamb said:

Tamb said:

Ian said:

Which two symbols for elements on this table are also pronouns?

He would be one

And I would be the other.

:)

mollwollfumble said:

Bubblecar said:

Ta. I didn’t know strontium was used in fireworks.

I did. It’s a colouring agent, glows bright red.

I didn’t know thulium for laser eye surgery or cerium for lighter flints.
I’ve only noticed cerium used in anti-corrosion coatings, as a replacement for chromium.

!http://www.sciencealert.com/images/articles/processed/illustrated-periodic-table_1024.jpg

Let’s see what else strikes me as unexpected:
Boron for sports equipment.
Scandium for bicycles.
Gallium for LEDs. (Isn’t it sometimes used for nuclear radiation shielding?)
Selenium for copiers.
Rubidium for global navigation. (I know it from atomic clocks).
Niobium for mag-lev. (A component of LHC magnets).
I did know that rhenium was used in some rocket engines, not often, it’s sometimes used on the expansion cones because of its high melting point.
Bismuth for fire sprinklers
Ruthenium, Rhodium, Indium. Antimony, Tellurium, Hafnium, Osmium. Iridium, Thallium, Polonium, Astatine.

Nice table.

Moll, see if you can find a copy of the book Fortunes in Formulas; first published in 1908 and almost certainly out of print now (my copy is from 1958), it includes a huge number of recipes for chemical remedies — including a large number that would have been lethal, but safety was less important then. Among the formulas given are some for fireworks, which include Sr(NO₃)₂.

The table the sciencealert page is derived from is at http://elements.wlonk.com/ElementsTable.htm, and it includes more detailed notes on the uses of each element, as well as notes on where the element comes from.

Ian said:

Which is the least useful of the elements on this table?

Excellent question. I’m going to approach it slowly by distinguishing between “least used” and “least potentially useful”.
There’s also the balance between availability and use. Low availability can match low use.
There are also trade-offs, where one element can substitute for another.

To make things easier, I’m going to group elements together by use.
Food supplements – trace minerals, for humans and for other organisms.

High melting point elements, from highest down.
Carbon, Tungsten, Thenium, Osmium, Tantalum, Molybdenumm, Niobium, Iridium, Ruthenium, Hafnium, Boron, Rhodium, Vanadium, Chromium, Zirconium

Elements that have been used in making superconductors (incomplete list, alphabetical order by symbol).
Aluminium, Cadmium, Carbon, Gallium, Hafnium, Mercury, Indium, Iridium, Lanthanum, Molybdenum, Niobium, Osmium, Palladium, Lead, Rhenium, Ruthenium, Silicon, Tin, Tantalum, Technetium, Thorium, Titanium, Thulium, Uranium, Vanadium, Tungsten, Zinc, Zirconium
Barium, Calcium, Lithium, Potassium, Sodium, Rubidium, Strontium, Ytterbium, Iron, Boron, Indium, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Lanthanum, Magnesium, Germanium.

List of common alloys by base metal (alphabetical order)
Aluminium, Bismuth, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Gold, Indium, Iron, Lead, Magnesium, Mercury, Nickel, Plutonium, Potassium, Cerium Terbium, Rhodium, Samarium, Scandium, Silver, Sodium, Titanium, Tin, Uranium, Zinc, Zirconium

Elements in the most common low-alloy steels (random order)
Carbon, Manganese, Molybdenum, Silicon, Chromium, Nickel, Boron, Vanadium, Tungsten, Copper

Radioactive medical applications. See web link for an excellent description of what medical applications each is used for.
https://www.isotopes.gov/outreach/med_isotopes.html
Actinium, Americium, Arsenic, Astatine, Gold, Boron, Beryllium, Bismuth, Boron, Carbon, Cadmium, Cerium, Californium, Cobalt, Chromium, Caesium, Copper, Dyprosium, Europium, Fluorine, Iron, Gallium, Gadolinium, Germanium, Hydrogen, Iodine, Indium, Iridium, Krypton, Lutetium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nitrogen, Niobium, Oxygen, Osmium, Phosphorus, Lead, Palladium, Plutonium, Radon, Rubidium, Rhenium, Rutherfordium, Silicon, Samarium, Tin, Strontium, Tantalum, Terbium, Technetium, Thorium, Thallium, Thulium, Tungsten, Xenon, Yttrium, Ytterbium, Zinc, Zirconium.

So to answer the above question:

> Which is the least useful of the elements on this table?

Well, Helium, Neon, Argon haven’t appeared in any of the above lists yet. LOL. Yes, they are useful.

Beyond that, Promethium, Francium, then you have to go highly radioactive to Berkelium, Einsteinium to find anything not currently useful.

So, to answer your question, Promethium and Francium are the least useful elements, so far.

btm said:

Moll, see if you can find a copy of the book Fortunes in Formulas; first published in 1908 and almost certainly out of print now (my copy is from 1958), it includes a huge number of recipes for chemical remedies — including a large number that would have been lethal, but safety was less important then. Among the formulas given are some for fireworks, which include Sr(NO₃)₂.

The table the sciencealert page is derived from is at http://elements.wlonk.com/ElementsTable.htm, and it includes more detailed notes on the uses of each element, as well as notes on where the element comes from.

Very interesting. The above web link failed for me “bandwidth exceeded”.

Oops, the third highest melting point element should have been “Rhenium” not “Thenium”.

The above web link failed for me “bandwidth exceeded”
——

Ya. For the pdf

mollwollfumble said:

> Which is the least useful of the elements on this table?

Well, Helium, Neon, Argon haven’t appeared in any of the above lists yet. LOL. Yes, they are useful.

Beyond that, Promethium, Francium, then you have to go highly radioactive to Berkelium, Einsteinium to find anything not currently useful.

So, to answer your question, Promethium and Francium are the least useful elements, so far.

From the web.

“Promethium can be used as beta radiation source in luminous paint, in nuclear batteries for guided missiles, watches, pacemakers and radios, and as a light source for signals.”

“Francium’s most stable isotope, francium-223, has a half-life of about 22 minutes. It decays into radium-223 through beta decay or into astatine-219 through alpha decay. Due to the small amounts produced and its short half-life, there are currently no uses for francium outside of basic scientific research. … No use has been found for what little francium can be produced.”

However, I do happen to know of a use for Francium from my general knowledge. (Chortles with glee).

Drop a little Francium metal into a large vat of water to get an enormous explosion. It’s the most chemically unstable element known.

A good collection of practical applications of elements can be accessed by following the web links on http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/periodic-chart.htm

So, to answer your question, Promethium and Francium are the least useful elements, so far.

———-

Thanks moll

mollwollfumble said:

Very interesting. The above web link failed for me “bandwidth exceeded”.

Oops, the third highest melting point element should have been “Rhenium” not “Thenium”.

I’m getting “Bandwidth exceeded” now, too. According to the data in my cache, elements 104-118 are listed as “Never found in nature; no uses”. That’s possibly also true of elements 99-103, but I haven’t got them cached.

Ian said:

So, to answer your question, Promethium and Francium are the least useful elements, so far.

———-

Thanks moll

I’ve got information here from Halcion about how much specific elements cost. It could be argued that the lowest cost elements are most useful because it is produced in the greatest volume. On the other hand, the reverse can be argued, the highest price elements are the most useful because if they weren’t useful then nobody would be prepared to pay that price for them.

Price(US$/kg) Element
0.001 H2O
0.011 SiO2
0.018 CaCO3
0.065 NaCl
0.17 Sulphur
0.34 Iron
0.35 Tungsten – note, that’s remarkably cheap.
1.5 Hydrogen
1.7 Carbon, as graphite
1.77 Aluminium
1.96 Lead
2.2 Zinc
2.33 Magnesium
3.3 Sodium
5.58 Titanium
6 Copper
9 Antimony
10 Lanthanum
11 Cerium
12.53 Nickel
16.5 Tin
20 Samarium
27.3 Bismuth
28 Mercury
31.7 Cobalt
32 Iodine
35 Helium
53.8 Vanadium
57.2 Selenium
77 Yttrium
79.2 Uranium
87 Neodymium, used in high strength magnets
95 Gadolinium, used in neutron therapy
165 Erbium, used in photographic filters
175, Praseodymium, used in high strength magnets
240, Polonium
380, D2O, heavy water
470 Dysprosium, used in lasers
525, Silver
550, Beryllium
720, Indium, used in LCD displays and LED diodes
810, Terbium
900, Radon
1000, Holmium, used in lasers
1600, Americium 241, used in smoke detectors
1650, Ruthenium
4500, Thorium, used in nuclear reactors
5000, Boron, used to produce glass and ceramics – note, that’s startlingly expensive
10000, Lutetium
11180, Rubidium
12160, Osmium, densest stable metal
18000, Scandium, used in aluminium alloys
18650, Iridium
11340, Palladium
37000, Platinum
37100, Rhodium
38550, Gold
62000, Technetium
65000, Thulium, used in lasers and X-ray devices
80000, Cesium
4000000, Plutonium
17000000000, Tantalum 180m
27000000000, Californium 252 – note, the price explains why so few nuclear bombs are made of Californium
32000000000, Platinum 190
1000000000000, Hafnium 178

mollwollfumble said:

4500, Thorium, used in nuclear reactors

FWIW thorium is used extensively in TIG welding electrodes, for welding steel.
Linky

mollwollfumble said:

Ian said:

So, to answer your question, Promethium and Francium are the least useful elements, so far.

———-

Thanks moll

I’ve got information here from Halcion about how much specific elements cost. It could be argued that the lowest cost elements are most useful because it is produced in the greatest volume. On the other hand, the reverse can be argued, the highest price elements are the most useful because if they weren’t useful then nobody would be prepared to pay that price for them.

Price(US$/kg) Element
0.001 H2O
0.011 SiO2
0.018 CaCO3
0.065 NaCl
0.17 Sulphur
0.34 Iron
0.35 Tungsten – note, that’s remarkably cheap.
1.5 Hydrogen
1.7 Carbon, as graphite
1.77 Aluminium
1.96 Lead
2.2 Zinc
2.33 Magnesium
3.3 Sodium
5.58 Titanium
6 Copper
9 Antimony
10 Lanthanum
11 Cerium
12.53 Nickel
16.5 Tin
20 Samarium
27.3 Bismuth
28 Mercury
31.7 Cobalt
32 Iodine
35 Helium
53.8 Vanadium
57.2 Selenium
77 Yttrium
79.2 Uranium
87 Neodymium, used in high strength magnets
95 Gadolinium, used in neutron therapy
165 Erbium, used in photographic filters
175, Praseodymium, used in high strength magnets
240, Polonium
380, D2O, heavy water
470 Dysprosium, used in lasers
525, Silver
550, Beryllium
720, Indium, used in LCD displays and LED diodes
810, Terbium
900, Radon
1000, Holmium, used in lasers
1600, Americium 241, used in smoke detectors
1650, Ruthenium
4500, Thorium, used in nuclear reactors
5000, Boron, used to produce glass and ceramics – note, that’s startlingly expensive
10000, Lutetium
11180, Rubidium
12160, Osmium, densest stable metal
18000, Scandium, used in aluminium alloys
18650, Iridium
11340, Palladium
37000, Platinum
37100, Rhodium
38550, Gold
62000, Technetium
65000, Thulium, used in lasers and X-ray devices
80000, Cesium
4000000, Plutonium
17000000000, Tantalum 180m
27000000000, Californium 252 – note, the price explains why so few nuclear bombs are made of Californium
32000000000, Platinum 190
1000000000000, Hafnium 178

I didn’t know water was an element.

They left off a couple of elements that are pretty useful: Oxygen and nitrogen.

Carbon in its dioxide form is pretty useful as well.

The Rev Dodgson said:

mollwollfumble said:

Ian said:

So, to answer your question, Promethium and Francium are the least useful elements, so far.

———-

Thanks moll

I’ve got information here from Halcion about how much specific elements cost. It could be argued that the lowest cost elements are most useful because it is produced in the greatest volume. On the other hand, the reverse can be argued, the highest price elements are the most useful because if they weren’t useful then nobody would be prepared to pay that price for them.

Price(US$/kg) Element
0.001 H2O
0.011 SiO2
0.018 CaCO3
0.065 NaCl
0.17 Sulphur
0.34 Iron
0.35 Tungsten – note, that’s remarkably cheap.
1.5 Hydrogen
1.7 Carbon, as graphite
1.77 Aluminium
1.96 Lead
2.2 Zinc
2.33 Magnesium
3.3 Sodium
5.58 Titanium
6 Copper
9 Antimony
10 Lanthanum
11 Cerium
12.53 Nickel
16.5 Tin
20 Samarium
27.3 Bismuth
28 Mercury
31.7 Cobalt
32 Iodine
35 Helium
53.8 Vanadium
57.2 Selenium
77 Yttrium
79.2 Uranium
87 Neodymium, used in high strength magnets
95 Gadolinium, used in neutron therapy
165 Erbium, used in photographic filters
175, Praseodymium, used in high strength magnets
240, Polonium
380, D2O, heavy water
470 Dysprosium, used in lasers
525, Silver
550, Beryllium
720, Indium, used in LCD displays and LED diodes
810, Terbium
900, Radon
1000, Holmium, used in lasers
1600, Americium 241, used in smoke detectors
1650, Ruthenium
4500, Thorium, used in nuclear reactors
5000, Boron, used to produce glass and ceramics – note, that’s startlingly expensive
10000, Lutetium
11180, Rubidium
12160, Osmium, densest stable metal
18000, Scandium, used in aluminium alloys
18650, Iridium
11340, Palladium
37000, Platinum
37100, Rhodium
38550, Gold
62000, Technetium
65000, Thulium, used in lasers and X-ray devices
80000, Cesium
4000000, Plutonium
17000000000, Tantalum 180m
27000000000, Californium 252 – note, the price explains why so few nuclear bombs are made of Californium
32000000000, Platinum 190
1000000000000, Hafnium 178

I didn’t know water was an element.

They left off a couple of elements that are pretty useful: Oxygen and nitrogen.

Carbon in its dioxide form is pretty useful as well.

Damn right, carbon in its dioxide form is essential for beer.