Do You Know...Your Metals?

Do you know how the chemical symbol in the Periodic Table came about?

Editor’s note: The chemical symbol in the Periodic Table (picture above) pays homage to the Latin name of the elements. For example, Ag is used for silver (picture below) and this comes from the Latin word for silver i.e. argentum. 

Do you know what is the most common metal found on Earth? 

Editor’s note: While aluminum (picture above) is the most common metal found in the Earth's crust, the most common metal found on Earth is iron (picture below), mostly because it makes up such a large part of the Earth's core.

Do you know that all but one metal is solid at room temperature? 

Editor’s note: At room temperature, mercury (picture above) is the only metal that is in liquid form. As it is also sensitive to temperature changes, it is a good medium to measure temperature, hence, it's use in a thermometer (picture below).

Do you know that sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium and francium are also metals? 

Editor’s note: They are known as alkali metals and are extremely reactive elements. Just putting them in water can result in an explosion. They are carefully stored in oil to prevent this happening.

Chemical reactions change the structure of the element. See the difference between sodium metal (picture above) and sodium chloride or salt (picture below). 

Do you know which metal has the highest boiling point? 

Editor’s note: Tungsten (picture below) has a very high melting point, after carbon it has the second highest melting point of all elements.

That is the very reason why tungsten is used to make filaments (the parts that illuminate and give off light) in a light bulb. 

Do you know what an alloy is? 

Editor’s note: Steel, as shown above, is an important alloy that is created from a mixture of metals, mostly iron. There are many different types of steel including stainless steel, galvanized steel and carbon steel as shown below respectively. Steel is commonly used to make a number of products including pipes, knives, machines, train rails, cars, motors and wires. 

Bronze (picture below) is a metal alloy made from copper and tin. Copper makes up the larger amount, usually between 80 to 95%.