Filed under: Pop Quizzes
Currently, there are one-hundred and seventeen elements. However, if element ununseptium were to be counted for, which it generally isn’t, the total would be one-hundred and eighteen. On the table itself, each element is usually listed with its corresponding symbol and atomic mass. On table’s that are more in-depth you can usually find more information, such as its abbreviated electron configuration, electronegativity, and it’s most common valence numbers.
Ninety-four of the elements listed on the table are found naturally on Earth, and the rest are synthetic elements that have been produced artificially in particle accelerators. That is of course with the exception of Elements 43 (technetium), 61 (promethium), 93 (neptunium) and 94 (plutonium), which have no stable isotopes and were first discovered synthetically, then later found in trace amounts on earth as byproducts of natural radiation decay processes.
Groups vs. Periods. A group is a vertical column, whereas a period is a horizontal row. The elements that fall into groups are alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, halogens and noble gases. The elements that fall into periods are transition metals, lactinides, and actinides.
The invention of the Periodic Table of Elements is usually attributed to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. However, it is true that earlier tables did exist.
Which element is my favorite? Well, honestly speaking I would have to say Element 118 is my most favorite. However, when I was in the fifth-grade I took a liking to Element 47 (silver). Reason being, was that I had a difficult time memorizing them and developed a small way to help make it simpler. Sidenote: I eventually did in fact memorize elements one through eighty-eight. Anyway, I took a liking to Element 47 because I could never remember what the symbol for it was. As it turned out, my grandmother’s next door neighbor, who was an elderly woman, was named Agnes. Agnes had silver colored hair. And there it was, I always remembered from that point on that Element 47′s abbreviation was Ag(nes) which represented silver.
There is an extensive amount of information on the Periodic Table of Elements at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table
Filed under: Pop Quizzes
The planet with the hottest average temperature, would be Venus. This is because Venus is covered in thick clouds, which creates a greenhouse effect, which keeps the planet’s temperature between 13ºC to 202ºC. So even on the “dark side” of the planet, it is still far warmer than the dark side of Mercury; even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.
So in short, the planet that has the HOTTEST POSSIBLE temperature is Mercury at 510ºC. Whereas, the planet that has the HOTTEST AVERAGE temperature is Venus.
Which planet has the coldest temperature? The planet with the coldest temperature is Neptune because technically Pluto is no longer a planet. The planet Neptune maintains a near constant temperature of -214ºC.
Venus
Neptune
A Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion calculator can be found here: http://www.mathsisfun.com/temperature-conversion.html#tool
More information on Venus can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus
More information on Neptune can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune
