ElementQuest

Using your immense knowledge obtained from your superb training in chemistry from Bloomington South, you have made a new element in your garage, using only common household items.  Because of many skeptics, you have not yet been credited with the discovery of this new element by the IUPAC.  In order to maintain your livelihood, ensure credibility in the scientific world, and win a free soft drink of your choice, you must come up with a way to market this new element.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a brochure that advertises this element.  In order to be marketable, the public must be aware of at least 10 interesting facts (no more than 3 constants, please!) and 1 image about your element.

OPTIONAL BONUS:  For extra points, you may choose to either 1) write a web page or 2) write a Power Point presentation about your element in place of the brochure.  Attach your web page or Power Point to an email (if you use multiple files, please zip them together), and send it to your chemistry teacher (Mr. Rapp is at rapp@chemistrygeek.com), or turn it in on disk. Click here to see some previous student projects.

In order to train yourself to find these facts about your chosen element, you decide to complete the task below.  You may submit your results on the worksheet, or by e-mail.

Using the web sites provided on this page, find the information requested.  The information you find in this treasure hunt should be similar to the information you use for your brochure.  Print a copy of this page, and record the answers in the space provided.

Find the recently made official names and symbols of elements 101-111.  This can be found as a press release from the IUPAC web site.  (Click here if the IUPAC web site is down.) The IUPAC is responsible for all naming in chemistry.  You'll find 110 here and 111 here.

You will need to know the history behind your element.   This information can be found at many web sites, including the Environmental Periodic Table and WebElements sites.

1.  Carbon - What is the origin of the name for carbon? When was carbon discovered?

2.  Hydrogen - Who discovered Deuterium and when?

3.  Calcium - In what year was Calcium first obtained?

4.  Lithium - When was Lithium first discovered?

5.  Mercury - In 1566, Mercury was used in Mexico to ____________________________ .

6.  What is Sodium's name in German? ______________________________

7.  What is Iron's name in Latin? (look under History) _________________________

8.  What elements have been discovered since Element 109?  When were they discovered?

9. Why is element 118 no longer on the table?

Physical constants can be found on one of the many web periodic tables, including the Chemicool periodic table at MIT and Los Alamos Laboratory.

1.  When was oxygen discovered? ___________________

2.  Potassium has how many isotopes? ________________

3.  How many isotopes of carbon exist? _______________

4.  Lithium has how many isotopes? ______________

5.  What is Calcium commonly used for? __________________________________________

6.  What color is Gallium? _______________________________________________________

7.  What color is Bromine? _______________________________

8.  Give three uses for Copper.   ______________________   _________________________     _____________________

9.  When was Francium discovered? __________________

10.  At what temperature does Francium melt? _____________________

11.  What is Mercury's melting point? ______________________

12.  How many isotopes does Hg have? ____________

13.  What is Am commonly used for in the home? ___________________________________________

Some elements are featured even in comic books. Look at the Comic Book Periodic Table at the University of Kentucky.

1. What attractive property does iron have? _____________________

2. What is the ratio of electrons to protons (we assume they meant protons, not proteins) in nitrogen? ______

Now that you know where to find this information, you should proceed with making your brochure.  Market the element of your choice.  This page will self destruct in five seconds, but links to these sites and more are always available from:http://chemistrygeek.com/elementquest.

This page last modified on October 16, 2013 by Neil Rapp