If you're not a keen science person, you've probably never heard of these six elements. But they are an important part of modern life. Let's take a look at these elements that you don't want to miss.
When you travel to Europe, you'll notice some tiny highlights on some euro banknotes. That's because they contain a small amount of the element Europium, a hard, silvery-white metal that can be used to prevent counterfeiting. Europium is a rare element (atomic number 63) and europium-bearing ores can only be mined in a few places. Before the invention of television, europium was not in the spotlight.
Early color television images were dim, with gray blue, whitish yellow, and dirty white. This is because no one can find a way to create a vibrant, rich red, so other colors can only be toned down to maintain some harmony.
Later, it was discovered that europium could produce a strong red color on television and, later, on computer screens, and the demand for europium skyrocketed. A few small mines in China, Russia and the United States are responsible for most of the world's europium.
In addition to the red fluorescent agent used in television and computer screens, europium is also used in the manufacture of lasers, fluorescent lamps, medical imaging, and more. Europium can also be used to make superconductors, a material that has no resistance at very low temperatures and can be used in high-tech equipment such as maglev trains and nuclear magnetic resonance.
Scandium (atomic number 21) is a silvery-white metal that was discovered in 1879 by chemist Lars Fredrik Nilson and named after his native Scandinavia. Scandium is fairly common in the earth's crust, but it wasn't until about 100 years after its discovery that people began to utilize the metal.
In the 70s of the 20th century, metallurgists discovered that aluminum-scandium alloys were both light and strong, making them ideal for use in aerospace components. Soon, sports equipment manufacturers also began using this alloy in various equipment such as baseball bats, hockey sticks, etc. In addition to being used in aerospace and sports equipment, scandium is also used in the manufacture of high-strength ceramics, metal halide lamps, nuclear reactors, and other fields.
Scandium can also be used to make a special glass that can absorb ultraviolet and infrared rays from solar energy, thereby improving the efficiency of solar cells.
Beryllium is the second main group element of the second period, the atomic number is 4, the element symbol be, is a gray-white alkaline earth metal, belongs to the hexagonal crystal system, hard, malleable. Beryllium has a low density but high strength, making it a lightweight and strong metal. Beryllium has a melting point of 1287 and a boiling point of 2470, making it a high-temperature resistant metal. The chemical properties of beryllium are more active than the same group of calcium, strontium, barium, etc., and can react with oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, halogen, etc., to form corresponding compounds.
In Isaac Asimov's science fiction story "Sucker Bait", scientists try to figure out why all the colonists who settled on the planet known as Junior died. Eventually, they discovered that it was the high levels of beryllium in the soil that caused the colonists to suffer from beryllium poisoning.
Beryllium is also used in the manufacture of lightweight alloys, ray windows, rocket engines, satellites, and more. Beryllium can also be used to make a special mirror that can reflect X-rays, which can be used in X-ray telescopes and nuclear fusion experiments.
Gallium is a grayish-blue or silvery-white metal with the element symbol GA, atomic number 31, and atomic weight 69723。Gallium has a very low melting point of only 2976, but the boiling point is high, reaching 2400. Gallium is susceptible to oxidation in the air to form an oxide film. Gallium is a lean metal that has similar properties to its congeners aluminum, indium, and thallium.
Gallium was discovered in 1875 by French chemist Paul Emile Lecoque de Bois-Bodland, who observed a new purple spectral line in sphalerite. He proved that the properties of this new element were similar to that of aluminum, and named it gallium, a word that comes from the Latin gallia (French).
Today, gallium metal is widely used in semiconductors and other electronics, as well as in the pharmaceutical industry, especially gallium nitride, which has become the material of choice for high-end, miniaturized chargers.
But in the past few years, gallium has also been a big part of magicians' favorite parlor pranks, as it melts when it's slightly warmer than the room temperature. Therefore, a spoon made of gallium looks normal, but it dissolves immediately once it is dipped in a cup of hot tea. Even holding a gallium spoon in your hand for too long can cause a ticking metal mess.
In addition to being used in semiconductors and electronics, gallium is also used in the manufacture of low-melting alloys, gallium arsenide lasers, photovoltaic cells, and more. Gallium can also be used to make a special liquid metal that can be deformed at room temperature, making it suitable for use in flexible electronics and robotics.
Tellurium (atomic number 52) is a silvery-white metal that was discovered in 1782 by the German mineralogist Müller von Reichenstein. While researching German gold ore, he discovered an unknown substance, which was initially thought to be antimony or bismuth. It was not until 1798 that the German mineralogist Kraprot extracted tellurium from the gold ore and confirmed its existence with spectroscopic analysis, taking its name from the Latin word for earth (tellus).
Tellurium is considered mildly toxic by most experts, but few people have been seriously harmed by it. How can you tell if someone has been exposed to high concentrations of tellurium?As their bodies metabolize telluride, their breath will have a pungent garlic smell – an element that was first discovered in the home of Dracula's legend.
Tellurium is commonly used in solar panels, computer memory chips, and rewritable optical discs, and is also used in the manufacture of thermoelectric materials, infrared detectors, thermal imaging cameras, and other fields. Tellurium can also be used to make a special type of glass that can change its resistance and transparency, allowing it to be used in smart windows and light switches.
The last element is dysprosium (dy), which ranks high on the list of rare, valuable elements, and its name comes from the ancient Greek word dysprositos, which means "hard to get", which is an apt name. It is a rare earth metal that belongs to the lanthanide group and has a metallic silver luster.
Dysprosium has never been found in nature as a free element, but like other lanthanides, it is found in various minerals such as yttrium oxide. Dysprosium has a high thermal neutron absorption cross-section, meaning that it is very good at absorbing neutrons. As a result, it is used to make control rods that are placed in nuclear reactors to absorb excess neutrons and prevent the fission reaction from getting out of control.
This soft metallic substance is also in high demand in electric motors, especially in electric vehicles and wind turbines, which puts dysprosium on the U.S. Department of Energy's list of critical materials for the green economy.