The Disappearing Spoon Chapter 3
Cory Heavner
Summary of Chapter 3
Chapter 3 is mainly about the creation of the early periodic table and the chemists that contributed to it. The first chemist that this chapter discusses is Robert Bunsen and the many important discoveries that he has attributed to the science. Arguably his most famous invention is the Bunsen Burner, which is a common piece of lab equipment used for controlled equipment, he invented it by taking a regular gas burner and added a valve to increase oxygen flow to provide a single open gas flame (Kean, S., page 49). This is only one of his many contributions to science, another one is spectroscopy, which was extremely important. Bunsen was extremely important in the role of creating the periodic table by taking Dmitri Mendeleev under his wing and being his mentor for many years, giving Mendeleev the tools to become the main contributor to the Periodic Table of the Elements.
Dmitri Mendeleev is known as the father of the Periodic Table by finding elements, giving them a way to be organized in a logical manner, and even predicting what elements that will be discovered in the future. In some cases he was more accurate than the people who actually found them. He also used spectroscopy to find and classify the elements, just like Robert Bunsen. This paragraph goes on to discuss the many scientists that contributed to the Periodic Table and why some are more famous than others.
Elements in Chapter 3
Arsenic (As)
Atomic number: 33
Atomic Mass: 74.9216
Period: 4
Group: 15
Electron Configuration: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4p^3
Classified as: metalloid
Found: naturally occurs in minerals usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals. Found in a crystalline form
Importance: Arsenic is used in poison, medicine, strengthening metals, and preserving wood
Discovery: Greek philosopher Albertus Magnus was the first to have Arsenic isolated
Characteristics: poisonous, crystalline, and it is the byproduct of Copper and Lead
Gallium (Ga)
Atomic Number: 31
Atomic Mass: 69.723
Period: 4
Group: 13
Electron Configuration: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4s^2 4p^1
Classified as: Basic metal
Found: Mainly present in minerals as a softer metal, a byproduct of zinc
Importance: Converts electricity to light, important in Blu-ray technology, found in mobile phones, and is a good alloy with most metals
Discovery: discovered in Paris by Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875
Characteristics: liquid near room temperature, soft metal like aluminum
Cerium
Atomic Number: 58
Atomic Mass: 140.116
Period: 6
Group: 5
Electron Configuration: 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d105s25p64f15d16s^2
Classified as: Lanthanide
Found: Found in various minerals, in metallic form
Importance: Has the same property as flints, so used commonly in flip lighters, used as pigment, and for flat screen TV’s
Discovery: Cerium was first identified by the Jöns Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger in the winter of 1803
Characteristics: soft metal, tarnishes easy, reacts with water, and it burns when heated
Yttrium (Y)
Atomic Number: 39
Atomic Mass: 88.906
Group: 3
Period: 5
Electron Configuration: 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d15s2
Classified as: Transition metal
Found: in phosphate form with Xenotime, mined in China and Malaysia
Importance: alloys, LED lights, and can treat some cancers
Discovery: In 1787, Karl Arrhenius came across an unusual black rock in an old quarry at Ytterby, near Stockholm
Characteristics: soft, shiny metal, strengthens things in alloys
Ytterbium (Yb)
Atomic Number: 70
Atomic Mass: 173.043
Group: 16
Period: 6
Electron Configuration: 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d105s25p64f145d06s2
Classified as: Lanthanide
Found: Found in the mineral monazite
Importance: used in memory devices, tuning lasers, and can be used as an industrial catalyst
Discovery: Ytterbium was isolated in 1878 by Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac at the University of Geneva
Characteristics: moderately toxic, soft, silvery metal, slowly oxidizes in air
Erbium (Er)
Atomic Number: 68
Atomic Mass: 167.259
Group: 14
Period: 6
Electron Configuration: 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d105s25p64f125d06s2
Classified as: Lanthanide
Found: found in the minerals monazite and bastnaesite
Importance: used for pigments, safety goggles, and in fiber optic cables
Discovery: In 1843, at Stockholm, Carl Mosander discovered Erbium
Characteristics: soft and silvery metal, tarnishes quickly, and is attacked by water
Terbium (Tb)
Atomic Number: 65
Atomic Mass: 158.925
Group: 11
Period: 6
Electron Configuration: 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d105s25p64f95d06s2
Classified as: Lanthanide
Found: in metal form in the minerals monazite and bastnaesite
Importance: light bulbs, mercury lamps, and quicker X-rays all use terbium\
Discovery: Terbium was first isolated in 1843 by the Swedish chemist Carl Mosander at Stockholm
Characteristics: soft, silvery metal, moderately toxic
Sources
Royal Society of Chemistry, (2015), Periodic Table, retrieved from
Arsenic
Gallium
Terbium
Picture Sources
from http://www.biography.com/people/dmitri-mendeleyev-9405465