[MrOHBrown]

Hello!

I would like to write an article ""Ten awesome chemical elements that you've probably never heard of" - The trouble is, being a chemist myself, I am struggling to be objective enough to decide what the casual reader would find awesome, plus, I just don't know that much about ALL the elements.

Transuranic suggestions are fine but it really needs to be something they've made a tangible solid/liquid/gas with that you can actually do something with.

If you have any good suggestions then please let me know!

Suggestions so far: Tc, V, Mo

[Arkcon]

Well, I always thought it was pretty bizarre that Technetium, Tc, could be added to steel alloys to toughen them.  I have to wonder about the particular application, "rough, tough, and keep away from children and pregnant women"

[enahs]

Maybe Vanadium? I do not recall ever hearing of that before I got into Chemistry; and it is a very important and useful element.

[Arkcon]

Molybdenum is pretty interesting too.  At one time, no one had a use for it.  Then German chemists determined that a tiny amount greatly toughened steel.  Bad news for the Nazi's however, the US has a mountain in Colorado that is essentially pure molybdenum ore.  So pure, in fact, that mine shafts just collapsed, so we just started shaving it from the top.  The mountain still has a huge chuck missing from it.  Then we find out that trace levels of molybdenum are critical for plants to use the nitrogen fixed by bacteria.  It was critical to agriculture, and we had no clue.

*[EDIT]*
typos

[agrobert]

Depends who our audience is.  I'm a chemist and I've heard of all of these suggestions.  I would say most people don't know about the lower transition metals which are all very interesting.  Titanium as well (sunblock, pigments) and the noble gases besides Ne and He.

[MrOHBrown]

OK, I shall be more specific...

First I'll clarify what elements I DON'T classify as unknown, based on the fact that I am a teacher and teach these basic elements to junior students: 1-20, Fe, Zn, Hg, Ag, Au, Pu, U, Pt, W, I, Br, Sn, Pb, Cu, Ti and elements that I sppose you could say were just as "famous". Most people have heard of all these so I don't think it'll make for an interesting article.

My demographic is the readers of http://www.cracked.com. I aim to read about the elements you guys suggest and write something humourous about each. Each element, I reckon, will have the following sub-headings.

Why is it Cool?

Why you've probably never heard of it

Is a rich man's...

(This final section will be where I compare the element to a more common one..., you know, say I was writing about Sodium, I'd go into why it was a rich man's Magnesium)

(Actually come to think about it the title is worth revising, cause Sodium is well worth writing about, despite being uttered a lot, maybe, maybe not)

Anyway that's the general idea. Cracked has plenty of science articles, it's well worth a look.

[MrOHBrown]

Maybe Vanadium? I do not recall ever hearing of that before I got into Chemistry; and it is a very important and useful element.

Ooooh, yes, and maybe Vanadium fuel cells are worth a mention?

[MrOHBrown]

That's all the attention I get?

OK then I think I ought to *Ignore me, I am impatient* this thread with my first foray into writing trhe article. a BIG thanks to Arkcon who will be credited if published.

Why is it cool?

Molybdenum, is cool because it is TOUGH like Michael Clarke Duncan. It’s tough, but very exclusive, spending most of its time high in the Rockies.
It’s tough because it has one of the highest melting points of any element, and it has the lowest heat expansion of any element. It won’t burn until it’s at least 600C!

Tiny amounts exist in the ocean and on the moon, but the overwhelming majority of its supply comes from the Climax region of Colorado. Molybdenum enthusiast should aptly climax if they visit the area as the place is loaded with Molybdenite ore.  Unfortunately Molybdenum had no such fan-club, even in the late 1900s when much of the Climax region was bought by a Prospector, as no actual use of Molybdenum was known. It had been over 100 years!

But it was to be revealed that this reclusive metal would play its part in liberty, that is, the inefficient European version of liberty where you only beat the aggressors enough so that they can fall back, build a bigger army, and do it all over again. WW1 was when Molybdenum came out of its shell (or I should say the shells were going into Molybdenum) as it was the allied transports that were strengthened by the addition of Molybdenum to the steel alloy. The Climax area burst to life supplying Molybdenum to the allies. Ironic considering a German first discovered Molybdenum.

Tiny amounts of Molybdenum (~0.3%)are used in steel, this makes Molybdenum an officer, a leader. It emboldens the Iron atoms that surround him, the lazy pricks, to become one united front of stronger, fitter,  alloyed defences.

It would later be discovered that Molybdenum was a crucial mineral in biological enzymes. Most importantly, Molybdenum enzymes are used by the very bacteria that make soil fertile. Like Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile, Molybdenum gives life too!

[macman104]

Agrobert made some suggestions about the lower transition metals.  Also, I would say that just because someone's heard of the name nullifies it from choosing (they may know nothing at all about it).  I would also vote that Tungsten and Bromine are far from common.  I would be surprised if the average highschool student knew much, if anything about either of those elements including recognizing the name.

EDIT:  Also, I think the trend in the halogen group is cool, that it has elements that are solids, liquids and gases.

[AWK]

what about rhodium or palladium - used in car catalysts

[MrOHBrown]

Agrobert made some suggestions about the lower transition metals.  Also, I would say that just because someone's heard of the name nullifies it from choosing (they may know nothing at all about it).  I would also vote that Tungsten and Bromine are far from common.  I would be surprised if the average highschool student knew much, if anything about either of those elements including recognizing the name.

EDIT:  Also, I think the trend in the halogen group is cool, that it has elements that are solids, liquids and gases.

And I am very appreciative! I am just prodding the thread so I can get as many suggestions as possible =)

Titanium, well everyone has heard of that (and aptly so) but yeah, Tungsten is awesome and not much is known about it, especially now with 1st world most lights being energy saving fluoros.

[billnotgatez]

Bismuth
Pepto bismol

[MrOHBrown]

In a bit to encourage more suggestions, here is my next hastily written installment, It's a bit of a wiki-job, but it's a start.

Technetium

Why is it cool?

Technetium was the element to hide in the shadows and avoid all attempts of detection for many years, like the spy Sam Fisher from the Splinter cell game series. It dwells in an area on the periodic table where its neighbours enjoy a stable existence here and there on Earth, Technetium has no stable isotope and so was therefore nowhere to be found which caused a very noticeable gap in the periodic table. Many false alarms were raised as ego driven scientists sought to be its finder. Dmitri Mendeleev, pretty much the godfather of chemistry, just sat back and predicted what it’d be like. It wasn’t the first time he was absolutely right.

It took over 100 years until finally, in the 1930’s, what was thought to be just be radioactive Molybdenum parts from a cyclotron turned out to contain Technetium, named so as it was the first artificial element to be produced.

This was not just a novel occasion. By eventually producing slightly-stable Technetium, cancer and other ailments can be diagnosed with minimal invasion. When in the body it spreads evenly throughout the bloodstream. Weak but detectable radiation, no stronger than an X-ray, will then leave the body, providing a picture of where abnormalities lie.

Loads of Technetium would have been produced when the star before our sun went nova, but faded away soon after. Being humans, we took it as our duty to bring it back from the dead so that it could do some reconnaissance for humanity and save our lives!

Can you buy it on eBay?

Hell no, if you want some you’d better form some sort of enigmatic cancer deep in your body, and you’re going to lose half of it after 6 hours anyway... oh and maybe your life.

Is a rich man’s...

Americium