What's your favourite element of the periodic table(if you have one)?

[Nachtwind]

hm.. so how can something not be solid at 0°K? I thought 0°K is defined by the immovebility (word?) of all nuclear parts? So even if something doesnt reach a solid state it should be solid matter still?

[SargeRho]

No, there are always vibrations. And Helium doesn't bond with anything under normal circumstances. So at 0K it remains liquid, because the atoms aren't locked.

Titanium. Because my best friend has a Titanium hip joint.

[Omicron314]

Hydrogen. It sustains all life in the universe.

[-Velocity-]

I don't know what my "favorite element" would be, but I do know that the universe's favorite element is hydrogen.

If I absolutely had to pick a favorite element though, it would probably be silicon, since it's my job to make stuff out of it

Then again, carbon is perhaps the most interesting element to study, since it comes in so many different elemental forms, and forms the most numerous and varied chemical compounds of all the elements, at least, I think it does. Does any element actually exist in as many or more compounds than carbon does? I don't think so, but I'm not a chemist.

Edited September 30, 2013 by |Velocity|

[lajoswinkler]

hm.. so how can something not be solid at 0°K? I thought 0°K is defined by the immovebility (word?) of all nuclear parts? So even if something doesnt reach a solid state it should be solid matter still?

(it's 0 K, not 0°K, because it's kelvin, not degrees kelvin)

Nuclear vibrations never stop, but more importantly, the vibrations of atoms never stop. The lowest amount of energy, called zero point energy, is always in the system, even when you remove all other thermal energy, which is impossible in reality.

Helium has a filled doublet of electrons. 1s2 2s2. That's very stable and the only force between helium atoms is London dispersive force, which is basically a consequence of the quantum nature of such small particles. It's a very weak force, and helium atoms are very lightweight, so it's easy to make it boil.

I don't know what my "favorite element" would be, but I do know that the universe's favorite element is hydrogen.

If I absolutely had to pick a favorite element though, it would probably be silicon, since it's my job to make stuff out of it

Then again, carbon is perhaps the most interesting element to study, since it comes in so many different elemental forms, and forms the most numerous and varied chemical compounds of all the elements, at least, I think it does. Does any element actually exist in as many or more compounds than carbon does? I don't think so, but I'm not a chemist.

No, carbon is the most versatile element we know.

Edited September 30, 2013 by lajoswinkler

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

Lawrencium, because my surname is Lawrence

[Excalibur]

Not sure if it's my favourite but it's one I definitely have a chequered history with; Oxygen.

About six years ago I had a SCUBA diving accident caused primarily by having too much O2. Due to a mix-up at the filling station my air cylinder was actually filled with around 80% O2 - I subsequently took this tank on a dive to 33 metres depth.

Now, at 33 metres depth you're inhaling your breathing gas at a pressure of 4.3 bar (1 bar for the atmosphere, 3.3bar for the water column), meaning I was breathing O2 at a partial pressure of approximately 3.44bar (ppO2 = 0.8*4.3). The US Navy recommends a maximum safe ppO2 of 1.8bar - I exceeded that by just a little...

I ended up having an oxygen toxicity fit at depth before becoming unconscious. Luckily I was diving with a very experienced diver (my father) whom kindly took it upon himself to rescue me whilst putting himself at risk.

Top man.

All of this resulted in a seven hour visit to a re-compression chamber (as despite breathing such a high proportion of O2 I'd still been down deep and long enough to take in enough nitrogen to give me a nice case of the bends) and being banned from diving for 12 months. What I still find hard to believe is the readout that the doctors retrieved from my dive computer; from when I passed out til when I regained the surface was fifteen minutes - I wasn't breathing for a single second of that time. The extreme amount of oxygen in my system may have caused the whole incident, but it also kept my brain alive during those critical minutes....

So oxygen! So ubiquitous, the giver of life yes? However as with anything, only in moderation please!

In case you're interested in further reading;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_pressure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathing_gas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_operating_depth

Edited October 1, 2013 by Excalibur
Added reference links

[jebbe]

Wixhausium. Because Europium, Germanium, Hassium, Darmstadtium - what has to be next? Of course! (GSI)

Edit: Darmstadtium = Bowel-city-ium, Wixhausium = Masturbation-town-ium. Towns have great names here!

Edited October 1, 2013 by jebbe

[Citriodora]

Sodium, ah Sodium,

I do like you a lot.

Like your little ion dance with Potassium

excites my cells and i think that's hot.

Essential for all animals, most plants, though in nature you are never found free.

Alas, most of all and with which you can relate you make my taste buds go WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

[zekes]

Obviously.

Edited May 9, 2015 by zekes

[rodion]

Fluorine, in its elemental form, is pretty evil but it has a certain emotional character about it. It won't stop causing unthinking, absolute mayhem on everything it comes into contact with until it is entirely bound in a prison of its own causation, and it makes the greatest spectacle in the process (from the maximum distance you can possibly be). If fluorine was a person, it would probably be Carl Panzram. Probably close second: silicon, for helping to facilitate the microelectronics revolution and the relative trivialization of computation. Judging by how I'm sitting at a computer right now and reading a forum about something else I can do on the computer, I probably owe silicon a lot.

[Xeldrak]

Hm, never thought about it...but now, that you ask: Carbon.

Because Carbon -> Carbon Nanotubes -> Space elevators

[Dispatcher]

Mercury, because silver tooth fillings wouldn't be the same without it.

[Free Trader Beowulf]

Strontium - grew up reading 2000AD

[Deadpangod3]

Kethane

In rl,

Probably thermite, idk why, sometimes I like giant explosions XD

What do you think Jebs rockets are fueled with?

[DaveofDefeat]

Favorite: Carbon, its awesome

Least favorite: Oxygen, its killing us.

[ArmchairGravy]

Gold. It's wonderfully useful and it's shiny.

[victory143]

Mine is Cesium as it is sound like Casy-ium (my cousins name)

[periodictable101]

i love Gold because of its unique qualities. for interactive periodic table go here

[Dispatcher]

Unobtainium.

[Thiel]

Fluorine. Gotta love an element that'll give you strong teeth and chew your face off.

[Nuke]

ununoctium

[FCDetonados]

caesium, why? because of this

[TechnicalK3rbal]

Kerballium

[Simon Ross]

Carbon

Without it we wouldn't be here having this discussion :-)