Quiz: elemental pursuit

1

Which dangerous element is used at facilities such as the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (European XFEL^w2) to focus X-ray beams?

2

Which transition metal has been used to strengthen samurai swords and tank armour, and is also vital for plant and animal life?

3

Which toxic element is responsible for the vibrant yellows of many Vincent van Gogh paintings?

4

Which element helped Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines detect neutrinos from radioactive beta decay for the first time in 1956?

5

The only stable isotope of which element is used to define seconds, the standard unit for time?

6

Mixing which element with salt water results in an exothermic reaction that can be used to warm up self-heating meal packs?

7

Which metal with a high melting point is used to line the walls of the Joint European Torus (JET) and ITER nuclear fusion reactors?

8

Which element and its radioisotope allow scientists to study gene regulation and adaptation in long-lived neurons?

9

Which element is essential for the synthesis of thyroid hormones that regulate growth, development and cell metabolism?

10

Atoms of which element were fired into berkelium (element 97) by German scientists to try to create the predicted element 119 (ununennium)?

11

Which trace metal is now rarely used in thermometers because of its toxicity?

12

Which element can be found in computer hard drives and is used in the most powerful permanent magnets known?

13

Which Group 1 metal is commonly found as part of rechargeable batteries in cell phones and laptops?

14

Which element allows scientists to reconstruct past climates based on the ratio of the element’s isotopes in the ‘rings’ of mollusc seashells?

15

Which element is considered a potential energy carrier of the future, and can be released from food waste by microorganisms?

16

‘Doping’ which element with phosphorus or boron can alter its conductivity?

17

Which element is allowed into neurons and muscle cells, in a controlled way, to create an action potential?

18

Which mineral is present at around 5 mg per 100 g of fresh mushrooms?

19

Which element can exit neuron cells via specialised ion channels to restore a resting membrane potential?

20

Ions of which common metallic element are found in Fehling’s solution, used to detect the presence of reducing sugars (fructose, glucose or lactose)?

21

Which element has more stable oxidation states than any other transition metal?

22

NASA uses which inert gaseous element to protect extraterrestrial samples from contamination during investigations?

23

Which element forms free radicals which speed up the reaction that destroys ozone in the stratosphere?

24

Which rare metal took chemists Ida Tacke and Walter Noddack three years to isolate 120 mg of?

25

Which element can be used to thinly coat plastics in order to give them a ‘structural colour’?