Periodic Devotions

Neon Neon is one of the Noble gases located in the far-right column of the Periodic Table What do you think of when you think of neon? Many of us think of a bright, lit up neon sign. And this is true! Neon is used in the advertising industry to create signs that light up…

Carbon A lot can be said about it.  Carbon forms the bulk of all living things — without carbon, there wouldn’t be a you or me! It bonds really well to both other elements and itself. There is a whole branch of chemistry devoted to it! (Organic Chemistry) Pure carbon takes on a few different…

Zinc The element that protects. Let’s count some of the ways… It is used in sunscreen to protect the skin from harmful UV rays It is found in lozenge form to boost the immune system and protect from illness It is found on baby bottoms to protect from diaper rash It galvanizes steel with just…

Yttrium Never heard of it? Most haven’t. It’s a slivery metallic rare earth metal located in the middle portion of the Periodic Table. It’s not very common on earth — mostly mixed in with other elements and minerals in rocks. But Yittrium does have one fun fact. It was present in moon rock samples that…

Aluminum. Soft and malleable. Lightweight. Low density. Difficult and expensive to mine. With descriptions such as these, it would seem highly unlikely for such an element to be of much use. And yet, it is one of the most used metals in the Periodic Table! Because of its low-density, aluminum is used to manufacture cars,…