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30-Second Elements, Eric Scerri
Books
Eric Scerri

30-Second Elements

  • Emilijahas quoted2 days ago
    One of the remaining uses of lead is in car batteries. Invented in 1859, the lead-acid battery is relatively cheap and can deliver the high current needed to start an engine. When the battery discharges, electrodes immersed in sulphuric acid are converted to lead sulfate. Charging reverses the process. If the lead sulphate rests for too long, it begins to form crystals, and recharging becomes difficult – this is why it is important to maintain the charge.
  • Emilijahas quoted3 days ago
    Iron colours the surface of Mars, the ‘red planet’,
  • Emilijahas quoted3 days ago
    Steel is iron mixed with a little carbon, which makes it harder.
  • Emilijahas quoted3 days ago
    Because charcoal is used to extract iron from its ore, what you get is inevitably steel instead of pure, softer iron.
  • Emilijahas quoted3 days ago
    Chromium alloyed with iron makes stainless steel, which does not oxidize or rust.
  • Emilijahas quoted3 days ago
    Chromium was discovered in 1798 by French chemist Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin, who ground up precious stones in an effort to explain their colours, and later discovered the element beryllium in the same way
  • Emilijahas quoted3 days ago
    found for many of mercury’s uses, in measurement instruments, valves, switches and dental amalgams. However, other applications such as in energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs are increasing demand for the element.
  • ☁️ ursula ☁️has quoted5 years ago
    Today, three quarters of a million tons of argon are extracted annually from liquefied air, because its very inertness makes it useful. You can fill light bulbs, fluorescent tubes and double-glazed windows with it, or use it as a propellant for aerosols, industrial sprays and even futuristic ion-propulsion spacecraft engines, without worrying that it will react or be toxic.
  • ☁️ ursula ☁️has quoted5 years ago
    Like the other elements that share its column in the periodic table, it is an inert gas: unreactive, if not downright lazy (the quality for which it’s named). Argon does not lose or share any electrons by undergoing chemical reactions; it has a so-called filled shell of electrons.
  • ☁️ ursula ☁️has quoted5 years ago
    Ramsay confirmed that these gases were, indeed, unique elements by examining the characteristic spectrum of light they produce when excited by an electric discharge. His co-worker, fellow British chemist Morris Travers, was thrilled to note a ‘blaze of crimson light’ in the case of neon.
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