Chemistry Nexus
by WebElements: the periodic table on the web
Periodic table beach towel at Mount Vesuvius
Have periodic table towel will travel. That’s Mount Vesuvius in the background. Lots of chemistry in a volcano.
I rather like H where I put it (above F) in the table but you may not!
WebElements September 12th, 2018
Posted In: Chemistry
Cyborg bacteria convert CO2 into acetic acid
A BBC report on the August 2017 American Chemical Society meeting states ‘Cyborg’ bacteria deliver green fuel source from sunlight. To summarise, some bacteria deal with heavy metals such as cadmium by converting it to cadmium sulphide semiconductor crystals on their surfaces. These bacteria are then able to convert carbon dioxide + water + light into acetic acid with high efficiency.
WebElements August 22nd, 2017
Posted In: Bioinorganic chemistry, Environmental chemistry, Photochemistry
Tags: Cadmium, Carbon dioxide, sulfur
Elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 names confirmed as nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts), and oganesson (Og)
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) have confirmed the names of elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 as:
- Nihonium and symbol Nh, for element 113
- Moscovium and symbol Mc, for element 115
- Tennessine and symbol Ts, for element 117
- Oganesson and symbol Og, for element 118
This followed a 5-month period of public review after which the names earlier proposed by the discoverers were approved by IUPAC.
WebElements November 30th, 2016
Posted In: Chemical education, Periodic table, Radioactive elements
Huge new helium resource
A huge find of #helium gas in Tanzania may alleviate critical helium gas resources for some time. Helium is required for cooling NMR magnets and associated imaging instruments in medicine (MRI)
WebElements June 28th, 2016
Posted In: Atmospheric chemistry, Geological chemistry, Group 18 elements
Tags: Helium
Why are some diamonds blue?
Wondering why the most expensive diamond ever (the Oppenheimer Blue, £35 million) is blue – it is because of boron impurities, element 5 in the periodic table.
WebElements May 19th, 2016
Posted In: Chemistry
Speculation on new element names
A panel commentary in Nature Chemistry Commentary speculates upon the names that might be proposed for the four new elements in the periodic table. Worth a read, but we’ll have to wait a while longer yet.
Abstract: “Of all the things humans can bestow names upon, new chemical elements are about the rarest. Our group of periodic table experts attempts to read the tea leaves and predict the names for elements 113, 115, 117 and 118.”
WebElements March 23rd, 2016
Posted In: Nuclear chemistry, Periodic table, Radioactive elements
Tags: Element 113, Element 115, Element 117, Element 118
How to name new elements
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has provisional recommendations for the naming of new elements and the recommendations are open for comment until 29 February 2016.
IUPAC state “the most important change is that the names of all new elements should have an ending that reflects and maintains historical and chemical consistency. This would be in general “-ium” for elements belonging to groups 1-16, “-ine” for elements of group 17 and “-on” for elements of group 18.”
WebElements February 24th, 2016
Posted In: Chemistry
Four elements to get names
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced IN January 2016 that the identification of the four new elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117, and 118 is verified and that the discoverers of elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 are invited to suggest names.
Element 113 has a temporary working (systematic) name and symbol: ununtrium, Uut. It was discovered by the RIKEN collaboration team in Japan who fulfilled the criteria for element Z=113.
WebElements February 24th, 2016
Posted In: Nuclear chemistry, Radioactive elements
Tags: Element 113, Element 115, Element 117, Element 118, Ununoctium, Ununpentium, Ununseptium, Ununtrium
A further step towards nuclear fusion?
The media cover a story that scientists at the German Max Planck Institute produced a helium plasma contained for about a tenth of a second but at about 1000000 K. The next step at the Wendelstein 7-X (a stellarator fusion reactor) is to increase the stability of the plasma, to improve the heating method, and to increase the plasma temperature.
WebElements December 20th, 2015
Posted In: Nuclear chemistry
Tags: deuterium, Helium, Hydrogen, nuclear fusion
Can you make your name from the element symbols?
Can you make your name, or any other word(s) come to that, from element symbols? Find out using this MyFunStudio script.
WebElements December 10th, 2015
Posted In: Chemistry, Periodic table