What is your favorite element?

[whistle]

I've got another science project! For my last project on amino acids, thanks to your help, I was able to talk about the simplicity of glycine (although it still looks as flat and unsymmetrical as ever, billymills), the vivid colors of tryptophan in a 3D protein structure (before this, I thought amino acids were too small to see), and the toxicity of a common neurotransmitter (monosodium glutamate). Thank you all for the responses! My science teacher was very pleased with my "original research" and "work ethic" and gave me some hall passes as a reward.

Anyways, for the next class project, I said I would make a list of some fun facts of the chemical elements! So, what is your favorite element, and why? If you would like me to cite you as something other than your Smogon username, be sure to let me know.

my favorite element

I don't know if I have a favorite, but nitrogen is pretty interesting so we'll just call it #1.

Nitrogen's atomic number is 7, which is the smallest prime number.

By volume, diatomic nitrogen is 78% of the Earth's atmosphere and is both colorless and odorless. Its dissociation energy extremely high, at 942 kJ/mole, which means utilization of atmospheric nitrogen requires conversion to more accessible forms (naturally through nitrogen fixation, industrially through the Haber process). If a nanoparticle is used to catalyze N2 dissociation, only specific sites on the nanoscale are catalytically active (imagine building a sphere with a small number of legos - different parts of your "sphere" are different and only some of them bind to N2).

Nitrogen has five valence electrons, which leaves a lone pair in sp2 hybridized nitrogen. The lone pair can contribute towards aromaticity (in pyrrole) or towards basicity (in pyridine). Imidazole contains two nitrogens; the protonated nitrogen's lone pairs contribute towards aromaticity, while the other nitrogen is basic. The imidazole side chain of histidine, my favorite amino acid, has a pKa of 6.0, which means it spans a wide range of protonation states at physiological pH. As a result, histidine is utilized in many catalytic active sites in several different ways.

Look at the byline in this paper for the strain-promoted azide/alkyne cycloaddition and blow your mind.

Honorable mentions go to hydrogen (acid, hydride, 2H/3H fusion) and sulfur (soft biological nucleophile)... and many other elements that have their own niches!

edit: forgot to thank college chemistry student Folgorio for his help writing the information seen above

 

[Codraroll]

Praseodymium, because of its wonky name (second longest name in the Table, I believe?). Neptunium is also an odd one, lying in the shade of its two far better-known cousins on either side in the Periodic Table. Then again, it seems to deserve its obscurity, since there apparently aren't any other uses for it than making Plutonium.

 

[Cherub Agent]

Stronzium because I had chemistry in Italy and stronzo is a swear word, so the class was always in giggles

Also because ium is a stronzo so now I like it even more :]

 

[GatoDelFuego]

Strontium and Tungsten tie for me. I just love the way that Strontium rolls of the tongue and Tungsten is one of the densest elements, making it seem really, really strong mentally for me. I know that's not how it works, but it seems like it would feel powerful if I held it. It also has a low melting point for a metal but strangely the highest strength as well.

Though to be honest I was getting ready to answer air or fire....

 

[v]

radium is a pretty cool guy, eh kills phyicsist and doesnt afraid of anything

 

[jumpluff]

I really like tellurium for its unstable isotopes

Similarly, polonium is kind of badass and has an interesting history imo

 

[Relados]

Nitrogen's atomic number is 7, which is the smallest prime number.

^lol

Carbon has to be the most interesting, being the basis for everything organic and having way too many things you can do with it. That being said, I adamantly hate this element because of organic chemistry.

 

[Stratos]

One of my favorite things about elements is the etymology of their names and, when they diverge, their symbols, like that Helium comes from Helios aka the sun, or that Lead's Pb is latin plumbum (oops!). But when it comes to element names, the coolest is super easy: Seaborgium. Glen Seaborg's contributions to the periodic table were pivotal to the placement of all man-made elements, so it's only fitting that one of said elements would be named after him. But what makes Seaborgium so damn cool is that it's the only element to be named after a living person. Glen Seaborg was told while he was still alive that he would be forever immortalized on the periodic table. That has got to be the single best feeling in the history of time.

 

[cookie]

this is a cool thread and all but it's easy to just state an element, try to justify it

this thread is borderline as it is - there's not that much discussion to be had for such a personal choice, but it is a nice opportunity to learn about chemistry so i will allow it

 

[reyscarface]

mine is

Hide

the element of surprise

na but for real its calcium, as it is one of the most important components of us humans. our cells are working with calcium all the time. nitric oxygen, which regulates the diameter of blood vessels, and it needs calcium to function. in the nervous system, calcium is part of the beginning of the sinaptic transmission, as its what lets the neurotransmitters get out. It also works in the muscles as it controls muscle contraction. it goes without saying that calcium is also a fundamental part of our bones. you can really find calcium workings inside our body everywhere you look.

 

[nitrox116]

My favorite element is fluorine. The interesting thing about elements is that very unstable elements make stable compounds (and vice versa). For example, the more dangerous elements sodium (explodes upon contact with water) and chlorine (was once used as a gas weapon) can react to make table salt.

Fluorine is one example of such an element: while it can be found in a compound in benign toothpaste, in its pure form, it is a corrosive and poisonous gas. It can burn almost anything if a jet of it is shot at something, including glass and water. I thought it was very interesting how one element could be one of the most reactive and dangerous elements, but still be something that we put in our mouth every day.

 

[phalanx]

Uranium... was known about long before nuclear stuff,... was used as a colourant in glass since its discovery in 1789
oh and the glass does glow in the dark (slightly) and is radioactive
although Carbon is interesting, as is the sodium and chlorine thing.

 

[Litmus]

Argon-it's chill as fuck, hangs it in lightbulbs and is way too laid back to react with pretty much anything.

And Lithium cause that is one of the best songs ever written IMO

 

[noobcubed]

And Lithium cause that is one of the best songs ever written IMO

I personally prefer Spandau Ballet's "Gold" but I feel it's a case of apples and oranges.

"Titanium" is really overrated though.

 

[The Avalanches]

My favourite metal on this list would either be Chromium or Mercury.

Chromium has one of the coolest names and chrome steel is all shiny and shit.

Mercury is the only metal liquid at room temperature (lol gallium) and its dense enough for bricks, cannonballs and chunks of lead to float in it.

 

[Morfent]

Bismuth. Just look at it

Hide

 

[nitrox116]

Bismuth is pretty awesome. Another fun fact about it that most people know is that it's actually an unstable element, just like uranium or radium. In fact, bismuth and all known elements beyond it are always radioactive, in all of their isotopes.
However, bismuth's half-life (the amount of time it takes for half of an amount of one element to decay into another) is stupendously large: far more than the age of the universe

 

[mattj]

Only one mercury mention?? Its obviously a metal, you can tell by its sheen and coloration, but its a liquid at room temp, but it balls up and rolls and slides around all over the place. You just wanna play with it and roll it around in your hands but you know its poison. Its unlike any other element I've ever seen and handled (with gloves).

 

[moi]

hydrogen, because you can actually solve its probability density without wanting to hang yourself

 

[Sakuretsu]

Ununpentium, because, well, zombies. That is all.

115


Call of Duty zombies aside, I'd have to say either Neon or Xenon (perhaps also the remaining noble gases) for their use in neon signs. Mercury is also a particular favorite for its unique properties.

 

[Cresselia~~]

Silver.

Because nice but affordable jewelry :)
Silver is even useful in stuff like X-ray and other medical equipment.
The silver from X-ray scans is then recycled into a Silver clay and can be easily made into jewelry by ordinary people like me.
A Japanese company recycles them and sells them as craft clay.

 

[Focus]

From watching the Periodic Table of Videos, I've come to appreciate the "coolness" of every element. Maybe I'll just list my two favorites.

Carbon: The chemistry of carbon is ridiculously rich and interesting. They can link together in chains, sheets, and 3-D structures that are all very cool. Organic chemistry is pretty much just the study of the chemistry of how carbon works and is a huge area of study by itself. Life just wouldn't exist without organic compounds. Graphene is an exciting material with cool properties that we will probably be seeing a lot more of in the coming years. I am interested in planetary science, and the carbon chemistry of Titan is unique. It has physical similarities to Earth with its terrain and lakes, and we have just begun seeing the kind of chemistry that goes on there. Also, diamonds are pretty and also my birthstone. If I had to choose a favorite element, it would probably be this one.

Helium: Helium is the lightest noble gas and a by-product of alpha decay and nuclear fusion. I like helium because of its interesting physical properties. It has the lowest boiling point, so it is good for keeping temperatures extremely low. Liquid helium-4 behaves like a superfluid with zero viscosity which gives it some funky properties which show quantum mechanics working at large scales. It also remains liquid no matter how much you lower the temperature; you have to pressurize it to see solid helium.

 

[michael]

either phosphorus or oxygen (trying not to say the obvious choice of carbon lol)

phosphorus has cool reactivity as the period 3 analogue of nitrogen. who doesn't like non-basic nucleophilicity? quaternary triphenylphosphines are just really cool reagents. on the flip side the wittig reaction can be pretty draining to run for the first time in the lab...

e: i guess it falls under triphenylphosphines but using the phosphorus-oxygen bond strength as a driving force is cool! the explosivity of stuff like ammonium nitrate and tnt is due to the same kind of thing, the strength of the nitrogen-nitrogen bond.

oxygen does so much fun stuff idk where to begin. it's a key element in so many interesting compounds like peroxides (free radical initiatiors!) and amides/esters/lactams/etc., not to mention ethers coordinating to organolithiums and grignards and increasing reactivity. it's thermodynamically favoured for to react with just about everything under standard conditions but doesn't because of the forbidden transition into the singlet state. so many interesting things about oxygen~

 

[Rugi]

Caesium. Weird spelling and I like watching it go boom when put in water.

 

[doublenikesocks]

Silver because of the instability of its salts. The Ag+ cation is cool and likes to reduce in the presence of light. Photography is an interesting subject and it wouldn't be possible without silver. And who doesn't like explosives? Silver acetylide, silver azide, silver nitride, silver fulminate, ect are all very fun high explosives! Also the most conductive element and very reflective too/ (most reflective?) It stands out against other group 11 elements cause it it normal colored for a metal and doesn't like to oxidize above +1.
Close seconds:
iodine
bromine
platinum
selenium
rubidium
gallium
uranium
EDIT: I have a crystal of bismuth chilling on my desk, it's really raw