Poisoner's Corridor: "Ouch-Ouch"
(Chapter 9) By Mykala Jacobs
Summary of the Chapter
I learned that many of these elements can blend and make the body think that they are different elements. Cadmium is one of these elements. Thallium is considered the most deadly element on the periodic table. Thallium also roams the body destroying parts of it. Learn more as you scroll down.
Cadmium
Atomic Mass - 112.41
Period - 5
Group or Family - 12
Electron Configuration - 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10
Element Classification - Transition Metal
Location - Primarily found in the ancient mines in Kamioka, Japan
Importance - Cadmium is used to coat car batteries and computer parts to prevent corrosion. It is also used in certain tanning agents and solders (Chapter 9, Pg. 81-82).
History - Cadmium was found by Friedrich Strohmeyer. He was sampling an element called calamine. Upon finding it, he heated the calamine up and discovered that it glowed. The glowing was caused by the, at the time, unknown element. Cadmium is named after the Greek word kadmeia and the Latin word cadmia. These are the Greek and Latin words for calamine (Gagnon, 2015).
Unique Characteristics - Cadmium can cause kidney failure, deep bone and joint pain, and bone softening. This element can cause a disease called, "Itia-Itia," or the "Ouch-Ouch" disease. When Cadmium enters the body it replaces Zinc, Calcium, or Sulfer. It cannot be taken out of the body once put in (Chapter 9, Pg. 81-82).
Thallium
Atomic Mass - 204.38
Period - 6
Group or Family - 13
Electron Configuration - 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p1
Element Classification - Metal
Importance - Thallium is toxic. The only true importance Thallium has is rodent poison.
Location - Thallium is normally found in pyrites and several other ores.
History - William Crookes found this element when studying the spectrum of sulferic acid. He noticed a green line that was otherwise not supposed to be there and relized he found a new element. He named it Thallium after the Greek word "Thallos" which means green line (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016).
Unique Characteristic - Thallium is considered the deadliest element on the periodic table. It, like Cadmium, mimics other elements and enters the body. When in the body, Thallium destroys amino acids and acts as a free radical. This element has been used by many to kill others. It is also known as the "poisoner's poison" (Chapter 9, Pg. 83).
Bismuth
Atomic Mass - 208.98
Period - 6
Group or Family - 15
Electron Configuration - 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p3
Element Classification - Metal
Importance - Bismuth is the BIS in Pepto-bismal. Bismuth cures stomach ulcers and diarrhea.
Location - Bismuth, in large quantities is normally found in Bolivia during mining expeditions for lead, tin, copper, and many other things. Bismuth is commonly found in compounds with Oxygen, Carbon, Clorine, and some others.
History - Bismuth has been an element since ancient times but only became a defined element in 1753 by Claude Geoffrey the Younger.
Unique Characteristic - Bismuth is commonly used in a product many of us know to be Pepto-Bismal. It is proven to cure diarrhea and stomach ulcers. Bismuth is one of the only elements that is out of place among the poisons (Gagnon, 2015).
Thorium
Atomic Mass - 232.04
Period - 7
Group or Family - None
Electron Configuration - 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p6 7s2 5f2
Element Classification - Transition Metal
Importsnce - Considering Thorium's high melting point, it is used in many lightbulbs and lamps today.
Location - Thorium is found in a mineral called monazite. Monazite can be found in India, Idaho, and other places. One of the largest deposits of Thorium is found in Idaho.
History - Thorium was dicovered by Jons Jakob Berzelius. He found it in 1828 and named it after the Norse god of thunder, Thor (World Nuclear Association, 2015).
Unique Characteristic - Thorium has an extremely high melting point. Thorium is typically used in mining lamps because of this. These lamps used mantels, mesh nets, instead of wire filament like most lamps (Chapter 9, Pg. 86).
Americium
Atomic Mass - Approximately 243
Period - 7
Group or Family - None
Electron Configuration - 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p6 7s2 5f7
Element Classification - Transition Metal
Importance - Americium is toxic therefore it is not used in anything besides smoke alarms.
Location - Americium is commonly found in nuclear reactors. It has been produced for years in a natural nuclear reactor in Oklo, Gabon. Although, the no longer work as nuclear reactors.
History - Americium was found by a group from the University of Chicago in 1944. This group found Americium in the natural reactor in Oklo. Although they only trully found the elements half-life (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016).
Unique Characteristic - Americium is normally used in smoke alarms. This element releases alpha particles. Smoke absorbs the aloha partices in this smoke alarm, this disrupts a current and sets of the alarm (Chapter 9, Pg. 88).
APA Citations
nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Thorium/
Gagnon. Steve. (2015). The Element Bismuth. Retrieved from http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele083.html
Royal Society of Chemistry. (2016). Thallium. Retrieved from http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/81/thallium
Gagnon, Steve. (2015). The Element Cadmium. Retrieved from http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele048.html
Royal Society of Chemistry. (2016). Americium. Retrieved from http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/95/americium
(Note: These page numbers of the book come from the online text version.)