April 2016 Program Information
April 2016 ProgramThank you to Scott Duresky for presenting a very informative program about the periodic table called “Chemical Elements and the Chemistry of Earth”.
He presented many samples of pure elements, which we got to touch, and a few that were on the table to observe.
He explained that all the elements were produced during the formation of the stars in our universe. [This was the subject of a program presented to the club in March 2015]
Our human body needs 27 of the 118 known elements (the last twenty or so are man-made).
Some of the most interesting were:
- Scandium - a rare metal with a melting point of 2806 °F & boiling point 5137 °F
- Arsenic - which is very toxic
- Selenium - which could be lethal to us if ingested in large amounts, but which controls many of the enzymes in our bodies
- Tungsten - a very heavy metal used in incandescent bulbs
- Gold - possibly the most useful element.
[Follow links for pictures, uses & information on these elements]
Some of the latest elements to be reported and named are discussed here.
A ‘live” version of the Periodic Table can be found here.
If you want some in-depth information and knowledge transfer, take a look (with your smart phone and a QR code scanning program) at The Periodic Table Of Videos.
- This is an instructional resource produced by the University of Nottingham. This QR coded table links each element directly to the corresponding video resource on their website.
- It is in JPEG format. Various sized of this resource can be found on their Flicker posting here.
And finally, a full-color printable version of the Periodic Table can be downloaded from here (represented below).
Scott gave uses and location for many of his samples. It was an excellent experience to be able to examine at close range the variety of scarce samples Scott was kind enough to bring for the evening.
Thanks very much, Scott!
