Pianophilia

Timtin wrote:If you saw a list such as iron, aluminium, zinc, copper, and gold, which appeared to give equal status to all, wouldn't you straight away be puzzled?

Yes, I would be, because as a chemist there is no doubt in my mind that the most important element on Earth is praseodymium. Nogbert's most important element is undoubtedly carbon, but that's because he lives in South Africa...

Regards
Linus

fredbucket wrote:Yes, I would be, because as a chemist there is no doubt in my mind that the most important element on Earth is praseodymium. Nogbert's most important element is undoubtedly carbon, but that's because he lives in South Africa...

Regards
Linus

Carbon, yes, because I'm an organic chemist; but I have a sneaking fondness for thallium (because of some work I did when in the USA). And these days no self-respecting organic chemist can avoid palladium. However, shouldn't the SA connection be with gold?

Nogbert

If we're talking elements rather than metals then these are apparently the most valuable:-

Aluminum, Arsenic, Boron, Bromine, Cadmium, Calcium, Carbon, Chlorine, Chromium, Cobalt,
Copper, Fluorine, Germanium, Hydrogen, Iodine, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum,
Nickel, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Silicon, Sodium, Sulphur, Tin, Titanium,
Tungsten, Vanadium, and Zinc.

What's the use of being locked in a room full of gold or platinum but empty of air?

Mnemonic for the first 2 rows of elements:- Hopeless HEctor LIkes BEer But Can Not Obtain Food, NEver.
I'm going to attempt to produce a decent one for the entire PT.

Nogbert wrote:However, shouldn't the SA connection be with gold?

No, the tetrahedral allotrope of carbon was what I had in mind...

Regards
Fred

fredbucket wrote:

Nogbert wrote:However, shouldn't the SA connection be with gold?

No, the tetrahedral allotrope of carbon was what I had in mind...

Regards
FRed

They are after all a girl's best friend... not that I'm a girl. (Fred will understand the allusion.)

rob wrote:They are after all a girl's best friend... not that I'm a girl. (Fred will understand the allusion.)

I do, bassically.

Regards
Fred

You're talking about diamonds right?
Just in case we weren't off topic enough, shouldn't diamond be spelled d a i m o n d, or at least pronounced dyamond?

There is a property which the following 16 elements (listed by their atomic numbers)
have in common, but which isn't mentioned in any chemistry book. What is it?

Atomic numbers:- 4, 5, 6, 9, 20, 26, 31, 32, 47, 48, 56, 58, 64, 89, 98, 105.

Notes.
1. The question isn't as off-topic as it might appear.
2. It should be right up the streets of Linus (aka Fred) and Jo (aka Nogbert).
3. You've already read the answer!

Timtin wrote:There is a property which the following 16 elements (listed by their atomic numbers)
have in common, but which isn't mentioned in any chemistry book. What is it?

Atomic numbers:- 4, 5, 6, 9, 20, 26, 31, 32, 47, 48, 56, 58, 64, 89, 98, 105.

You missed some. 13,17,18,24,27,29,33,35,55,63,66,68,79,83,85,87,95,96,97,99 and 100.

Regards
Linus

Well, my original question didn't include any of the above, but was going include atomic numbers
1, 2, 72, 80, and 107 as well, before they were deleted since they only display the property I had
in mind in Germanic countries. (Maybe south of the equator there exists some weird musical scale
which we primitive northerners haven't yet come across.)

Regards, Niels (favourite element:- Timtinium (group 18, period 8, atomic number 150, symbol Tmn))
- always trying to push nonsense to the next orbital level!