Praseodymium

Praseodymium (or PR, as I will call it in this post) is the 59th element in the table of elements and the 3rd in the lanthanide elements table. It was discovered by Baron Carl Auer Von Welsbach in 1885. It is derived from the Greek word that mean "green twin".

It does not occur free in nature; instead it is derived from plutonium by bombarding it with alpha particles. PR has been studied greatly to see if it would make a good fuel for a generator, and it is still being studied today.

PR is used in:

• Aircraft engines
• Motion picture industry (studio and projector lighting)
• Coloring in glasses and enamels
• Color cubic zirconia to simulate peridot
• Welder and glass blower goggles

Cerium

Discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1803, cerium is the 58th element and the 2nd element in the lanthanide element table. While it is called one of the four rare earth elements, it is in fact the opposite and is more common than lead in the earth's crust. Sometimes cerium causes fires- if it ever does, never use water to put it out. Cerium reacts to water and releases a gas that is more deadly than the fire itself.

Cerium is used in many thing, including:

• Heat resistant alloys, particularly aluminum alloys
• Cast irons
• Steel production, including stainless steel
• Refining of grain
• Magnets
• Arc welding
• Lighter flint
• Motion picture industry
• Self cleaning ovens
• Glass
• Petroleum refinement
• Oxidizing agent
• Catalysts in organic synthesis

Lanthanum

Discovered by Carl Gustav Mosander of Stockholm Sweden in 1839, lanthanum is a soft metal that can be easily cut with a knife. Lanthanum also is the most reactive of all rare earth metals- it reacts with carbon, nitrogen, boron, selenium, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and the halogens (such as iodine). It's name is derived from the Greek word for "to lie hidden".

Fun Fact: It is one of the four rare earth elements.

Lanthanum is mildly toxic, and while a small exposure cannot kill you or make you sick, a large exposure to it can so it should be handled with care. It oxidizes quickly to oxygen and hot water, but barely reacts at all to cold water.

Fun Fact: Lanthanum is often used as an alloy, but its compounds are more often used for lighting by cinemas for stage lights.

Barium

Discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy of England in 1808, barium is a soft metal element. It is a beautiful silvery white when in its true form. It oxidizes quickly, and has to be stored in petroleum and other oxygen free liquids. Oxygen is not the only thing it reacts to, however- it also decomposes in water and alcohol, and its compounds are soluble in any waters or acids that are poisonous.

Fun Fact: The word was derived from the Greek word 'barys', meaning heavy/dense.

Barium has a few uses including vacuum tubes, pigments, paints, glass-making, the manufacturing of rubber, rat poison, and in pyrotechnics (fireworks). Barium is only found mixed in with other minerals- most commonly in barite, sulfate and witherite.

Diamond

A diamond is another form of carbon, formed over billions of years under extreme pressure and heat. Volcanic eruptions bring them to the Earth's surface. Every year, companies mine about 57000 pounds of diamonds. They are worth billions of dollars. The most diamonds are found in Africa. There are a number of ways to produce synthetic diamonds, including high-pressure high-temperature synthesis, chemical vapor deposition, and detonation synthesis. While not as expensive as real diamond, it still costs a pretty penny at 200 dollars per carat. The first synthetic diamond was produced in the 1950's.

The word "diamond" comes from the Greek word for "unbreakable". The name is perfect, since the only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond. On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, diamond ranks a ten. Ten is the hardest on the scale, and one is the softest. Diamonds can cut through any material except another diamond, in which case they can just leave scratches.

 Diamond is the hardest natural material known to man and is often used in factories for industrial cutting and polishing tools. Diamond is also the best known thermal conductor among naturally occurring substances.The synthesized material known as cubic zirconia is a crystalline form of zirconium dioxide. It is at times in competition with diamond because as well as being hard, optically flawless and colorless, it is also durable and cheap. 

Diamonds, however, hold the place as the world's most popular gem. It is also the most searched for. Diamonds, being so beautiful, are used mostly in expensive jewelry. A diamond ring is usually used for a wedding ring. A few of the world's most famous diamonds include: 

The Hope Diamond, a rare large blue diamond that holds a reputation for being cursed.

The Yellow Tiffany Diamond weighed an amazing 287.42 carats when it was found in the North Kimberly Mine.

The Koh-i-Noor Diamond is thought to be the world's largest diamond. It is now part of the British Crown Jewels.

After being originally found by a slave in an Indian mine, the 140.64 carat Regent Diamond has been through an epic history including an English sea merchant and French royalty. It is now on display at the Louvre, where it has been on display since 1887.

Sapphire

The official birthstone for those born in September, the sapphire is a beautiful deep blue stone. However, while many people think blue is the ONLY color for a sapphire, that is very false. Sapphires also come in almost any other color. Rare, peach colored sapphires are called padparadscha. It is also a 9.0 on the Mohs scale- the second hardest element.

Star sapphires (or regular sapphires) usually only have 6 ray stars, but in some cases, there are twelves ray stars. Depending on how a sapphire is cut, it may or may not have a cat's eye effect. Some of the richer blue sapphires you see are likely heat treated- this is done to draw color from very pale gems and also removes tiny inclusions.

There are also lab grown sapphires. The stones are easily told apart from genuine gems because of their size and price- lab grown gems are often times very small.

Cesium

Discovered by Gustov Kirchoff and Robert Bunsen of Germany in 1860, cesium is a very soft and ductile light grey metal. It's name comes from the Latin word "coesius", meaning sky blue. The name was chosen for the blue lines that run through the metal's spectrum. Cesium turns to a liquid in a warm room. Only a few metals do this- the others being gallium, francium, and mercury.

A cesium reaction to water

Cesium is extremely reactive, having the most alkaline of all elements. It causes explosions upon contact with water producing cesium hydroxide, which is a very strong base that has the ability to corrode glass.

A very interesting fact about cesium is that it is used in atomic clocks. Atomic clocks are extremely accurate. In fact, cesium was used in the clocks that record the official world time. Currently it neither gains nor loses a second in more than 60 million years.

Xenon

Xenon originates from the Greek word for 'strange'- and strange it is. Discovered by Sir William Ramsay and M. W. Travers of England in 1898, xenon is a noble or inert gas. The thing that makes it strange is that it is in fact the heaviest gas currently known- a liter of it weighs 5.842 grams. Even though it is a gas, it still forms compounds. While xenon itself isn't toxic, it's compounds ARE.

That is only one of the differences between the compound and gas. Compounds can be colored, while most gas stays colorless. However, excited xenon in a vacuum tube glows blue. Xenon is often used in electron tubes, bactericidal lamps, strobe lamps, and lamps used to excite ruby lasers. It is often obtained by extraction from liquid air. However, other "xenons" are produced by neutron irradiation in air cooled nuclear reactors.

Iodine

The name iodine comes from the Greek word 'iodes', which means 'violet'. This at first would make no sense, as solid iodine is a blue-black non-metal that is very shiny. However, at normal temperatures, iodine turns into its gaseous form, and the gas is a violet color. Iodine is only found in solid and gas forms, there is no liquid state.


I called iodine a 'non-metal' above- it is actually halogen. Halogen is a non-metal. However, iodine also possesses a lot of metallic qualities.


The thyroid gland uses iodine to make the hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine. Insufficient iodine leads to development of a goiter, which is a swelling of the thyroid gland. Iodine deficiency is believed to be the leading preventable cause of mental retardation. Excessive iodine symptoms are similar to those of iodine insufficiency. Iodine toxicity is more severe if a person has a selenium deficiency. Iodine is used extensively in medicine. However, some people develop a chemical sensitivity to iodine. Sensitive individuals may develop a rash when swabbed with tincture of iodine. In rare cases, anaphylactic shock has resulted from medical exposure to iodine.

Tellurium

Not much is known about tellurium. It was found by Franz Joseph Meller von Reichenstein of Romania in 1782. It is a silvery-white metal and has a very high metallic luster when pure. It is also very brittle. It's name comes from the Latin word 'tellus', meaning 'earth'.

Fun Fact: Humans exposed to as little as 0.01 mg of it in the air, or even less, develop what is known as tellurium breath: a garlic-like odor.

Antimony

Known since the 17th century, antimony is the 51st element in the periodic table of elements. Itrs name is derived from Greek "anti plus monos", meaning "a metal not found alone". This makes a lot of sense as antimony is found in not one, not two, but over ONE HUNDRED different minerals. Only rarely does it ever occur in its native form.

Antimony is found in two forms- metallic and amorphous. I am going to focus on the metallic form- a bluish metal that is very stable and VERY brittle. It has a flaky texture to it, and it has a metallic luster. While it is not oxidized by air, it will burn very well when lit, producing white fumes. Unlike a lot of other metals, it is a very bad heat and electrical conductor. While antimony is often used in alloys to increase mechanical strength and hardness, it and its compounds are also used for:

• Batteries
• Bullets
• Cable Sheathing
• Flame-proofing Compounds
• Glass
• Ceramics
• Paints
• Pottery

Tin

Tin has been known of since ancient times, and, like silver, has no real official discoverer. Tin was named after the Etruscan god, Tinia, and is denoted by the Latin symbol for stannum. Like a lot of metals, tin is a soft metal and is silvery white with a high polish. It has a crystalline structure, and whenever tin is bent the crystals break and emit what is known as a "tin cry" (a squeak of metal).

A tin (steel) can

If/when tin is cooled anywhere below 13.2 degrees celsius, it turns from a white metal to a more gray/silver. Tin has a good resistance, and hence is used often to coat other metals to prevent corrosion- such as when it coats steel cans to can food. Tin salts can be used to make a protective cover for glass.

Fun Fact: Tin can be produced by reducing ore within coal.

Indium (#49)

Discovered by Ferdinand Reich and T Richter of Germany in 1863, indium is a soft, silver-white metal. It has a beautiful luster to it and makes a high pitched squeal when bent. Indium was named for the indigo stripe in its spectrum. However pretty it may be, indium is toxic, and it is still being researched today to find its effects.

Indium is commonly used in:

• Low melting point alloys
• Bearing alloys
• Transistors
• Thermistors
• Photoconductors
• Rectifiers

And fun fact for you- when it is plated or evaporated into glass, it forms a mirror just as good- if not better- than silver. Its only difference is that it has superior resistance to atmospheric corrosion.

Cadmium

Discovered by Fredrich Stromeyer of Germany in 1817, cadmium is a blue white metal that is so soft you could cut it easily with a knife. It's name comes from Greek kadmeia, which is actually an ancient name for calamine, zinc carbonate. It makes sense, being cadmium was first discovered as an impurity in zinc carbonate.

Cadmium is a component of bearing alloys to give them resistance to fatigue, so it is often used in alloys with low melting points. However, this is not its main purpose- most cadmium is actually used in electroplating. Other than that, it is sometimes used in solder, NiCd batteries, and to control atomic fission reactions.

But even with its many uses, cadmium is in fact only found in small quantities associated with zinc. It is often obtained as a by-product during the treatment of zinc, copper, and other such metals. Cadmium and all of its components are poisonous.

Silver

Silver- the metal that is very well known around the world. It is bought and sold, traded and hoarded- but who discovered it?

The truth is, Caveman Ooga-Booga discovered it! Just kidding... no one really knows who discovered silver, as it has been known to man since over 3000 BC. The word comes from Latin argentum which means silver. This is also how silver came to have the symbol "Ag".

Pure silver is a bright white with a metallic luster to it. It is a metal slightly harder than gold, but it is also very ductile and malleable- something that gold AND palladium are not. Pure silver DOES have the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals and also has the lowest contact resistance of all metals. It is stable in pure air and water, but it tarnishes in air containing sulfur.

The alloys of silver have many commercial uses. Sterling silver (92.5% silver, with copper or other metals) is used for silverware and jewelry. Silver is also used in:

• Photography
• Dental compounds
• Solder
• Brazing
• Electrical contacts
• Batteries
• Mirrors

While silver itself is not poisonous to humans, it's salts are due to the anions in it.

Fun Fact: Silver nitrate is often used to disinfect deep wound like fishers and gashes.

Palladium

Discovered by William Wollaston of England in 1803, palladium is named after the asteroid Pallas. Why? Because the asteroid was found in 1803 in the same time frame as palladium. Pallas is also the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Palladium itself is nothing like the asteroid- it is a steel white metal that never tarnishes in air. It is a very soft metal, and so has the lowest melting point AND density of all platinum metals. Palladium CAN become a harder, stronger metal, but only through the process of cold-working. Palladium can be crushed flat into a leaf that is as thin as an astonishing 1/250,000 of an inch.

Palladium is a good alloying agent and is often used by dentists and jewelry makers- and by us, as it is also used to make surgical instruments, electrical contacts, and watches. Fun fact: white gold is actually an alloy of gold that has been decolorized by use of- you guessed it- palladium.

Ruby

If you were born in July, then Ruby is your gem! Ruby is a gem that is very common in royal insignia and is used in very expensive jewelry. Ruby is also commonly used to celebrate a couple's 15th and 40th anniversary. The ruby was named after the Latin word for red, "ruber". This is a perfect name for it. Many of the most desired rubies are considered pigeon's blood red. The more common rubies are usually pink, orange, purple, and brownish red.

spinel

Many tales of large rubies are not true. This is so because many of the gems that were thought to be rubies were spinels, a similar gem. But I'll talk about spinels some other time. Here are some gems that ARE real. Real stones of outstanding beauty and color are the "Edwardes Ruby",weight 167 ct, displayed at the British Museum of Natural History in London, the "Rosser Reeves Star Ruby", of 138.7 ct, to be seen at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the "De Long Star Ruby", weight 100 ct, shown in the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the "Peace Ruby", 43 ct, which was found in 1919.

Rubies are very close to diamonds on the Moh's scale of hardness. Rubies are the second hardest, rating a 9 on the scale. So where are rubies found? Well, rubies can be found in many places, but mainly Madagascar, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.For a long time, India was also thought to be a large ruby deposit. In the Sanskrit language, rubies are called ratnaraj, which means king of gems. In the ancient times, a main reason for having a ruby was because they were believed to keep bad disease away. 

Rhodium

Discovered by William Wollaston of England in 1803, rhodium is the 45th element. The name is greek for "rhodon rose", as rhodium salts create a rosy colored solution. But rhodium isn't always in salt form, and unlike salt, the metal is a silvery white.

 When exposed to red heat, the metal will change in air to sesquioxide. At higher temperatures it will often revert to its elemental form. Rhodium is one of the only metals that has a higher melting point than platinum.

Plated rhodium is very hard and has a high reflectance, which makes it useful for optical instruments and jewelry. Rhodium is also used as a catalyst in certain reactions.

Aquamarine

Aquamarines are very strange and beautiful gemstones. They are usually a deep-light blue color. The rarest and most expensive aquamarines are a rich, deep blue. Aquamarine is a member of the beryl family and ranks a 7.5 on the Mohs Scale Of Hardness. Aquamarine gets it's exotic name from the Latin words for water and sea. *Almost all gemstones get their names from Latin terms.*


Aquamarines have many legends that surround them, the most famous being that it is believed to bring the wearer good fortune, happiness, intelligence, courage, and youthfulness. As for healing and medicinal purposes, it is believed to help with anxiety and in the Middle Ages was believed to bring down the effects of poisoning.

So where do aquamarines come from?
Well, many of the world's best aquamarines are found in Brazil, but aquamarines can also be mined in:

Cat's eye aquamarine
Kenya
Nigeria
Madagascar
Zambia
Tanzania
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Russia

While most aquamarines being sold in jewelry stores today are cut into faceted gems, occasionally they are cut in cabochon styled gems and give a cat's eye effect. Aquamarine is the birthstone of those born in March and with the Zodiac sign of the Scorpio.

Ruthenium

Discovered in 1844 by Karl Klaus of Russia, ruthenium often occurs with members of the platinum group of metal. It is a silver-gray metal and is VERY brittle, and is often found in the Ural mountains in North and South America. While it is often found in other metals and elements, there is a complex process that can be used to separate it.


Ruthenium is used as a hardener and is one of the best for addition to palladium and platinum. It is often alloyed with them to make electrical contacts with ultra wear resistance. It does not often tarnish at room temp, but will oxidize in air 800 degrees celsius.

Ruthenium was named after the Russian word "ruthenia", which means "Russia". It makes sense, being it's first discoverer was from Russia. It is possible that a Polish chemist discovered ruthenium first, but his work was never backed up and he withdrew his claims, making Klaus the founder.