1.
Hydrogen
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Hydrogen is a chemical element with chemical symbol H and atomic number 1. With a standard weight of circa 1.008, hydrogen is the lightest element on the periodic table. Its monatomic form is the most abundant chemical substance in the Universe, non-remnant stars are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state. The most common isotope of hydrogen, termed protium, has one proton, the universal emergence of atomic hydrogen first occurred during the recombination epoch. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, nonmetallic, since hydrogen readily forms covalent compounds with most nonmetallic elements, most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in molecular forms such as water or organic compounds. Hydrogen plays an important role in acid–base reactions because most acid-base reactions involve the exchange of protons between soluble molecules. In ionic compounds, hydrogen can take the form of a charge when it is known as a hydride. The hydrogen cation is written as though composed of a bare proton, Hydrogen gas was first artificially produced in the early 16th century by the reaction of acids on metals. Industrial production is mainly from steam reforming natural gas, and less often from more energy-intensive methods such as the electrolysis of water. Most hydrogen is used near the site of its production, the two largest uses being fossil fuel processing and ammonia production, mostly for the fertilizer market, Hydrogen is a concern in metallurgy as it can embrittle many metals, complicating the design of pipelines and storage tanks. Hydrogen gas is flammable and will burn in air at a very wide range of concentrations between 4% and 75% by volume. The enthalpy of combustion is −286 kJ/mol,2 H2 + O2 →2 H2O +572 kJ Hydrogen gas forms explosive mixtures with air in concentrations from 4–74%, the explosive reactions may be triggered by spark, heat, or sunlight. The hydrogen autoignition temperature, the temperature of spontaneous ignition in air, is 500 °C, the detection of a burning hydrogen leak may require a flame detector, such leaks can be very dangerous. Hydrogen flames in other conditions are blue, resembling blue natural gas flames, the destruction of the Hindenburg airship was a notorious example of hydrogen combustion and the cause is still debated. The visible orange flames in that incident were the result of a mixture of hydrogen to oxygen combined with carbon compounds from the airship skin. H2 reacts with every oxidizing element, the ground state energy level of the electron in a hydrogen atom is −13.6 eV, which is equivalent to an ultraviolet photon of roughly 91 nm wavelength. The energy levels of hydrogen can be calculated fairly accurately using the Bohr model of the atom, however, the atomic electron and proton are held together by electromagnetic force, while planets and celestial objects are held by gravity. The most complicated treatments allow for the effects of special relativity
2.
Helium
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Helium is a chemical element with symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and its boiling point is the lowest among all the elements. Its abundance is similar to figure in the Sun and in Jupiter. This is due to the high nuclear binding energy of helium-4 with respect to the next three elements after helium. This helium-4 binding energy also accounts for why it is a product of nuclear fusion and radioactive decay. Most helium in the universe is helium-4, and is believed to have formed during the Big Bang. Large amounts of new helium are being created by fusion of hydrogen in stars. Helium is named for the Greek god of the Sun, Helios and it was first detected as an unknown yellow spectral line signature in sunlight during a solar eclipse in 1868 by French astronomer Jules Janssen. Janssen is jointly credited with detecting the element along with Norman Lockyer, Janssen observed during the solar eclipse of 1868 while Lockyer observed from Britain. Lockyer was the first to propose that the line was due to a new element, the formal discovery of the element was made in 1895 by two Swedish chemists, Per Teodor Cleve and Nils Abraham Langlet, who found helium emanating from the uranium ore cleveite. In 1903, large reserves of helium were found in gas fields in parts of the United States. Liquid helium is used in cryogenics, particularly in the cooling of superconducting magnets, a well-known but minor use is as a lifting gas in balloons and airships. As with any gas whose density differs from that of air, inhaling a small volume of helium temporarily changes the timbre, on Earth it is relatively rare—5.2 ppm by volume in the atmosphere. Most terrestrial helium present today is created by the radioactive decay of heavy radioactive elements. Previously, terrestrial helium—a non-renewable resource, because once released into the atmosphere it readily escapes into space—was thought to be in short supply. The first evidence of helium was observed on August 18,1868, the line was detected by French astronomer Jules Janssen during a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India. This line was assumed to be sodium. He concluded that it was caused by an element in the Sun unknown on Earth, Lockyer and English chemist Edward Frankland named the element with the Greek word for the Sun, ἥλιος
3.
Lithium
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Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silver-white metal belonging to the metal group of chemical elements. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element, like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable. For this reason, it is stored in mineral oil. When cut open, it exhibits a metallic luster, but contact with moist air corrodes the surface quickly to a silvery gray. Because of its reactivity, lithium never occurs freely in nature, and instead, appears only in compounds. Lithium occurs in a number of minerals, but due to its solubility as an ion, is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines. On a commercial scale, lithium is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride, the nucleus of the lithium atom verges on instability, since the two stable lithium isotopes found in nature have among the lowest binding energies per nucleon of all stable nuclides. Because of its relative instability, lithium is less common in the solar system than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements even though the nuclei are very light in atomic weight. For related reasons, lithium has important links to nuclear physics, the transmutation of lithium atoms to helium in 1932 was the first fully man-made nuclear reaction, and lithium-6 deuteride serves as a fusion fuel in staged thermonuclear weapons. These uses consume more than three quarters of lithium production, Lithium is found in variable amounts in foods, primary food sources are grains and vegetables, in some areas, the drinking water also provides significant amounts of the element. Human dietary lithium intakes depend on location and the type of foods consumed, traces of lithium were detected in human organs and fetal tissues already in the late 19th century, leading to early suggestions as to possible specific functions in the organism. However, it took another century until evidence for the essentiality of lithium became available, in studies conducted from the 1970s to the 1990s, rats and goats maintained on low-lithium rations were shown to exhibit higher mortalities as well as reproductive and behavioral abnormalities. Lithium appears to play an important role during the early fetal development as evidenced by the high lithium contents of the embryo during the early gestational period. The available experimental evidence now appears to be sufficient to accept lithium as essential, the lithium ion Li+ administered as any of several lithium salts has proven to be useful as a mood-stabilizing drug in the treatment of bipolar disorder in humans. Like the other metals, lithium has a single valence electron that is easily given up to form a cation. Because of this, lithium is a conductor of heat and electricity as well as a highly reactive element. Lithiums low reactivity is due to the proximity of its electron to its nucleus
4.
Boron
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Boron is a chemical element with symbol B and atomic number 5. Produced entirely by cosmic ray spallation and supernovae and not by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is an element in the Solar system. Boron is concentrated on Earth by the water-solubility of its more common naturally occurring compounds and these are mined industrially as evaporites, such as borax and kernite. The largest known deposits are in Turkey, the largest producer of boron minerals. Elemental boron is a metalloid that is found in small amounts in meteoroids, industrially, very pure boron is produced with difficulty because of refractory contamination by carbon or other elements. Several allotropes of boron exist, amorphous boron is a powder, crystalline boron is silvery to black, extremely hard. The primary use of boron is as boron filaments with applications similar to carbon fibers in some high-strength materials. Boron is primarily used in chemical compounds, about half of all consumption globally, boron is used as an additive in glass fibers of boron-containing fiberglass for insulation and structural materials. The next leading use is in polymers and ceramics in high-strength, lightweight structural, borosilicate glass is desired for its greater strength and thermal shock resistance than ordinary soda lime glass. Boron compounds are used as fertilizers in agriculture and in sodium perborate bleaches, a small amount of boron is used as a dopant in semiconductors, and reagent intermediates in the synthesis of organic fine chemicals. A few boron-containing organic pharmaceuticals are used or are in study, natural boron is composed of two stable isotopes, one of which has a number of uses as a neutron-capturing agent. In biology, borates have low toxicity in mammals, but are toxic to arthropods and are used as insecticides. Boric acid is mildly antimicrobial, and several natural boron-containing organic antibiotics are known, small amounts of boron compounds play a strengthening role in the cell walls of all plants, making boron a necessary plant nutrient. Boron is involved in the metabolism of calcium in both plants and animals and it is considered an essential nutrient for humans, and boron deficiency is implicated in osteoporosis. The word boron was coined from borax, the mineral from which it was isolated, by analogy with carbon, marco Polo brought some glazes back to Italy in the 13th century. Agricola, around 1600, reports the use of borax as a flux in metallurgy, in 1777, boric acid was recognized in the hot springs near Florence, Italy, and became known as sal sedativum, with primarily medical uses. The rare mineral is called sassolite, which is found at Sasso, Sasso was the main source of European borax from 1827 to 1872, when American sources replaced it. Boron compounds were relatively rarely used until the late 1800s when Francis Marion Smiths Pacific Coast Borax Company first popularized and produced them in volume at low cost
5.
Carbon
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Carbon is a chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds, three isotopes occur naturally, 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is a radioactive isotope, decaying with a half-life of about 5,730 years. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity, Carbon is the 15th most abundant element in the Earths crust, and the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. It is the second most abundant element in the body by mass after oxygen. The atoms of carbon can bond together in different ways, termed allotropes of carbon, the best known are graphite, diamond, and amorphous carbon. The physical properties of carbon vary widely with the allotropic form, for example, graphite is opaque and black while diamond is highly transparent. Graphite is soft enough to form a streak on paper, while diamond is the hardest naturally occurring material known, graphite is a good electrical conductor while diamond has a low electrical conductivity. Under normal conditions, diamond, carbon nanotubes, and graphene have the highest thermal conductivities of all known materials, all carbon allotropes are solids under normal conditions, with graphite being the most thermodynamically stable form. They are chemically resistant and require high temperature to react even with oxygen, the most common oxidation state of carbon in inorganic compounds is +4, while +2 is found in carbon monoxide and transition metal carbonyl complexes. The largest sources of carbon are limestones, dolomites and carbon dioxide, but significant quantities occur in organic deposits of coal, peat, oil. For this reason, carbon has often referred to as the king of the elements. The allotropes of carbon graphite, one of the softest known substances, and diamond. It bonds readily with other small atoms including other carbon atoms, Carbon is known to form almost ten million different compounds, a large majority of all chemical compounds. Carbon also has the highest sublimation point of all elements, although thermodynamically prone to oxidation, carbon resists oxidation more effectively than elements such as iron and copper that are weaker reducing agents at room temperature. Carbon is the element, with a ground-state electron configuration of 1s22s22p2. Its first four ionisation energies,1086.5,2352.6,4620.5 and 6222.7 kJ/mol, are higher than those of the heavier group 14 elements. Carbons covalent radii are normally taken as 77.2 pm,66.7 pm and 60.3 pm, although these may vary depending on coordination number, in general, covalent radius decreases with lower coordination number and higher bond order. Carbon compounds form the basis of all life on Earth
6.
Nitrogen
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Nitrogen is a chemical element with symbol N and atomic number 7. It was first discovered and isolated by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Henry Cavendish had independently done so at about the same time, Rutherford is generally accorded the credit because his work was published first. Nitrogen is the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, the name comes from the Greek πνίγειν to choke, directly referencing nitrogens asphyxiating properties. It is an element in the universe, estimated at about seventh in total abundance in the Milky Way. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dinitrogen, a colourless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula N2, dinitrogen forms about 78% of Earths atmosphere, making it the most abundant uncombined element. Nitrogen occurs in all organisms, primarily in amino acids, in the nucleic acids, the human body contains about 3% nitrogen by mass, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. The nitrogen cycle describes movement of the element from the air, into the biosphere and organic compounds, many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates, and cyanides, contain nitrogen. The extremely strong bond in elemental nitrogen, the second strongest bond in any diatomic molecule. Synthetically produced ammonia and nitrates are key industrial fertilisers, and fertiliser nitrates are key pollutants in the eutrophication of water systems. Apart from its use in fertilisers and energy-stores, nitrogen is a constituent of organic compounds as diverse as Kevlar used in high-strength fabric, Nitrogen is a constituent of every major pharmacological drug class, including antibiotics. Many notable nitrogen-containing drugs, such as the caffeine and morphine or the synthetic amphetamines. Nitrogen compounds have a long history, ammonium chloride having been known to Herodotus. They were well known by the Middle Ages, alchemists knew nitric acid as aqua fortis, as well as other nitrogen compounds such as ammonium salts and nitrate salts. The mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids was known as aqua regia, celebrated for its ability to dissolve gold, the discovery of nitrogen is attributed to the Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air. Though he did not recognise it as a different chemical substance, he clearly distinguished it from Joseph Blacks fixed air. The fact that there was a component of air that does not support combustion was clear to Rutherford, Nitrogen was also studied at about the same time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley, who referred to it as burnt air or phlogisticated air. Nitrogen gas was inert enough that Antoine Lavoisier referred to it as air or azote, from the Greek word άζωτικός. In an atmosphere of nitrogen, animals died and flames were extinguished
7.
Oxygen
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Oxygen is a chemical element with symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the group on the periodic table and is a highly reactive nonmetal. By mass, oxygen is the third-most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen, at standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula O2. This is an important part of the atmosphere and diatomic oxygen gas constitutes 20. 8% of the Earths atmosphere, additionally, as oxides the element makes up almost half of the Earths crust. Most of the mass of living organisms is oxygen as a component of water, conversely, oxygen is continuously replenished by photosynthesis, which uses the energy of sunlight to produce oxygen from water and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is too reactive to remain a free element in air without being continuously replenished by the photosynthetic action of living organisms. Another form of oxygen, ozone, strongly absorbs ultraviolet UVB radiation, but ozone is a pollutant near the surface where it is a by-product of smog. At low earth orbit altitudes, sufficient atomic oxygen is present to cause corrosion of spacecraft, the name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, whose experiments with oxygen helped to discredit the then-popular phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion. One of the first known experiments on the relationship between combustion and air was conducted by the 2nd century BCE Greek writer on mechanics, Philo of Byzantium. In his work Pneumatica, Philo observed that inverting a vessel over a burning candle, Philo incorrectly surmised that parts of the air in the vessel were converted into the classical element fire and thus were able to escape through pores in the glass. Many centuries later Leonardo da Vinci built on Philos work by observing that a portion of air is consumed during combustion and respiration, Oxygen was discovered by the Polish alchemist Sendivogius, who considered it the philosophers stone. In the late 17th century, Robert Boyle proved that air is necessary for combustion, English chemist John Mayow refined this work by showing that fire requires only a part of air that he called spiritus nitroaereus. From this he surmised that nitroaereus is consumed in both respiration and combustion, Mayow observed that antimony increased in weight when heated, and inferred that the nitroaereus must have combined with it. Accounts of these and other experiments and ideas were published in 1668 in his work Tractatus duo in the tract De respiratione. Robert Hooke, Ole Borch, Mikhail Lomonosov, and Pierre Bayen all produced oxygen in experiments in the 17th and the 18th century but none of them recognized it as a chemical element. This may have been in part due to the prevalence of the philosophy of combustion and corrosion called the phlogiston theory, which was then the favored explanation of those processes. Established in 1667 by the German alchemist J. J. Becher, one part, called phlogiston, was given off when the substance containing it was burned, while the dephlogisticated part was thought to be its true form, or calx. The fact that a substance like wood gains overall weight in burning was hidden by the buoyancy of the combustion products
8.
Fluorine
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Fluorine is a chemical element with symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists as a highly toxic pale yellow diatomic gas at standard conditions, as the most electronegative element, it is extremely reactive, almost all other elements, including some noble gases, form compounds with fluorine. Among the elements, fluorine ranks 24th in universal abundance and 13th in terrestrial abundance, proposed as an element in 1810, fluorine proved difficult and dangerous to separate from its compounds, and several early experimenters died or sustained injuries from their attempts. Only in 1886 did French chemist Henri Moissan isolate elemental fluorine using low-temperature electrolysis, industrial production of fluorine gas for uranium enrichment, its largest application, began during the Manhattan Project in World War II. Owing to the expense of refining pure fluorine, most commercial applications use fluorine compounds, the rest of the fluorite is converted into corrosive hydrogen fluoride en route to various organic fluorides, or into cryolite which plays a key role in aluminium refining. Organic fluorides have very high chemical and thermal stability, their uses are as refrigerants, electrical insulation and cookware. Pharmaceuticals such as atorvastatin and fluoxetine also contain fluorine, and the fluoride ion inhibits dental cavities, global fluorochemical sales amount to more than US$15 billion a year. Fluorocarbon gases are generally greenhouse gases with global-warming potentials 100 to 20,000 times that of carbon dioxide, organofluorine compounds persist in the environment due to the strength of the carbon–fluorine bond. Fluorine has no metabolic role in mammals, a few plants synthesize organofluorine poisons that deter herbivores. Fluorine atoms have nine electrons, one fewer than neon, and electron configuration 1s22s22p5, the outer electrons are ineffective at nuclear shielding, and experience a high effective nuclear charge of 9 −2 =7, this affects the atoms physical properties. Fluorines first ionization energy is third-highest among all elements, behind helium and neon and it also has a high electron affinity, second only to chlorine, and tends to capture an electron to become isoelectronic with the noble gas neon, it has the highest electronegativity of any element. Fluorine atoms have a small covalent radius of around 60 picometers, similar to those of its period neighbors oxygen, conversely, bonds to other atoms are very strong because of fluorines high electronegativity. Unreactive substances like powdered steel, glass fragments, and asbestos fibers react quickly with cold fluorine gas, wood, reactions of elemental fluorine with metals require varying conditions. Some solid nonmetals react vigorously in liquid air temperature fluorine, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide combine readily with fluorine, the latter sometimes explosively, sulfuric acid exhibits much less activity, requiring elevated temperatures. Hydrogen, like some of the metals, reacts explosively with fluorine. Carbon, as black, reacts at room temperature to yield fluoromethane. Graphite combines with fluorine above 400 °C to produce non-stoichiometric carbon monofluoride, higher temperatures generate gaseous fluorocarbons, heavier halogens react readily with fluorine as does the noble gas radon, of the other noble gases, only xenon and krypton react, and only under special conditions. At room temperature, fluorine is a gas of diatomic molecules and it has a characteristic pungent odor detectable at 20 ppb
9.
Aluminium
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Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic, ductile metal, Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite, Aluminium is remarkable for the metals low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the industry and important in transportation and structures, such as building facades. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium, despite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of these salts abundance, the potential for a role for them is of continuing interest. Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight, ductile. It is nonmagnetic and does not easily ignite, a fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector of visible light and an excellent reflector of medium and far infrared radiation. The yield strength of aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel and it is easily machined, cast, drawn and extruded. Aluminium atoms are arranged in a cubic structure. Aluminium has an energy of approximately 200 mJ/m2. Aluminium is a thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin. Aluminium is the most common material for the fabrication of superconducting qubits, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. In highly acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, primarily because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium
10.
Silicon
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Silicon is a chemical element with symbol Si and atomic number 14. A hard and brittle crystalline solid with a metallic luster. It is a member of group 14 in the table, along with carbon above it and germanium, tin, lead. It is not very reactive, although more reactive than germanium, Silicon is the eighth most common element in the universe by mass, but very rarely occurs as the pure element in the Earths crust. It is most widely distributed in dusts, sands, planetoids, over 90% of the Earths crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the Earths crust after oxygen. Most silicon is used commercially without being separated, and often with little processing of the natural minerals, such use includes industrial construction with clays, silica sand, and stone. Silicate is used in Portland cement for mortar and stucco, and mixed with sand and gravel to make concrete for walkways, foundations. Silicates are used in whiteware ceramics such as porcelain, and in traditional quartz-based soda-lime glass, Silicon compounds such as silicon carbide are used as abrasives and components of high-strength ceramics. Elemental silicon also has an impact on the modern world economy. Most free silicon is used in the refining, aluminium-casting. Silicon is the basis of the widely used synthetic polymers called silicones, Silicon is an essential element in biology, although only tiny traces are required by animals. However, various sea sponges and microorganisms, such as diatoms and radiolaria, silica is deposited in many plant tissues, such as in the bark and wood of Chrysobalanaceae and the silica cells and silicified trichomes of Cannabis sativa, horsetails and many grasses. Silicon is a solid at room temperature, with a point of 1,414 °C. Like water, it has a density in a liquid state than in a solid state and it expands when it freezes. With a relatively high conductivity of 149 W·m−1·K−1, silicon conducts heat well. In its crystalline form, pure silicon has a gray color, like germanium, silicon is rather strong, very brittle, and prone to chipping. Silicon, like carbon and germanium, crystallizes in a cubic crystal structure with a lattice spacing of 0.5430710 nm. The outer electron orbital of silicon, like that of carbon, has four valence electrons, the 1s, 2s, 2p and 3s subshells are completely filled while the 3p subshell contains two electrons out of a possible six
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