[Alberto_Kravina]

Just to kill the time: What is your favourite element?  

My favourite is Thallium

What about you?  

[Bakegaku]

hmm.... favourite element.. Hard to say.   Maybe... beryllium?  NO thorium... eeeh... I'll think of it later  

[Borek]

I don't have a favorite element, but I have favorite compounds - borides. In Polish they are called borki (pl) and singular form is borek

For example magnesium boride - borek magnezu

[Bakegaku]

hah!  What an intresting name, then.  Too bad no groups are called "Andrew" (well maybe in another language   )  

[buckminsterfullerene]

this is not an element either but its composed of only 1 element, buckminsterfullerene
or C₆₀

[Borek]

It is a short form of my second name (Borkowski) - I was called this way since I was six. Generally speaking the older you get, the more serious you should be, but - as every rule of thumb - it doesn't work in every case

[pantone159]

I have to vote for carbon.  The diversity of chemistry, basis of life, and don't forget the pretty diamonds.
All adds up to 1st place, easy, in the element contest, in my book.

Personally, I might put thallium in last place.  Poisonous, quickly turns ugly from corrosion, yuck.  It does have a cool spectrum though.

[constant thinker]

I like elemental sodium and the other alkali metals. Reason being they don't get along with water very well.

My physical science teacher freshman year had some left over sodium metal and it was after class and he's like "you wanna do something fun." I said sure obviously and then he gave me sodium metal and let me throw it into the sink which was filled with water. I would have to say it was like 1-2g but I'm not good with weight. It was still fun though.

[limpet chicken]

I would have to say carbon, I wouldn't have all my drugs without it

[pantone159]

I would have to say carbon, I wouldn't have all my drugs without it

There's always N2O.  

[limpet chicken]

True, but doing nothing but N2O constantly would lower my bodily levels of vitamin B12 to a fatal level if large supplements were not taken daily.

[dfx-]

Fluorine....no particular reason..

[Albert]

Well, maybe my favourite element is Aluminum: it was the one I chose for my first chem project at the high school. It was a short essay about its properties and the Hall-Hérout process.

[Alberto_Kravina]

Personally, I might put thallium in last place.  Poisonous, quickly turns ugly from corrosion, yuck.  It does have a cool spectrum though.

That's why it is my favourite, because of it's spectrum. The first time that I saw this green line (when I analyzed a sample of Techtite) I had no idea what it was, and for a second I thought that I discovered a new element....lol....and I'll remember this green line for my whole life, it's a vision that has been impressed in my brain ever since.

[jdurg]

For me it's like asking "What's your favorite child?".  As a curator of a nice collection of elements, I have a really difficult time picking out a "favorite".  So I'll just list the ones that really pique my interest with a brief explanation of why.

Bromine:  The intensely dark color, pungent odor, and the fact that it's one of the few pure elements we see in a liquid form.

Cesium:  It has such a beautiful golden color to it and forms amazing crystals when it solidifies.  However, the metal will melt just barely above room temperature so when you hold the sealed ampoule in your hand, you see the metal melting right before your eyes into a beautiful water-like golden liquid.

Uranium:  Most people on this earth have never seen or held the pure metal in their hands.  It tarnishes readily like neodymium above it, but it's incredibly dense, incredibly hard, and makes a geiger counter go nuts when it's put near it.  All you hear about it is that it's radioactive so many people fail to recognize the fact that it's a metal just like iron is.

Osmium:  A truly 'colored' metal that is incredibly dense, resistant to oxidation and readily oxidized at the same time.  Just the way the metal is formed determines the reactivity.  Solid lumps like what I have in my collection do not oxidize at all.  A powder or sponge version of the same metal, however, readily oxidizes into a horrifly toxic and putrid smelling oxide.  (Mine isn't oxidizing because it is totally odorless).  It's amazing how the form of the metal can alter its chemistry so much.  In addition, the blue color of it is as unique as it gets.

Gold:  It's a wonderfully colored metal which is as soft as can be, yet incredibly dense as well.  Many people don't realize just how dense gold is until they pick up a sizeable mass of it.  Then their eyes light up as they see how much mass is in that tiny little gold slab.

Phosphorus:  A VERY reactive element depending on the allotrope you have.  White phosphorus goes crazy with just about anything.  Red phosphorus needs some motivation to get nuts.  Black phosphorus will barely react at all.  All the allotropes are so different from each other, yet amazing in their own rights.

There are so many more that I could wax on about for years, but these ones just stick out in my mind at the moment.