Intro

Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans, your Mnemonic Man, and today's episode we will continue our project down the periodic table. As we are doing them in groups of ten, we are now up to elements 31 to 40.

Now, as I have already done three introductions to the periodic table, I thought I would mix it up, and get into a little more detail, as to where the names for some of the elements came from.

We will start with Einsteinium, which was named in honour of Albert Eistein who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921. This element was discovered in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952. Its symbol is Es and its atomic number is 99.

Germanium is named after Germany. It was discovered in 1886 by Clemens Winkler, and was named to honour Winkler's homeland. Its symbol is Ge and has the atomic number of 32.

Nobelium is a synthetic element named after Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prizes. It was discovered in the mid-20th century and its symbol is No, with the atomic number of 102.

Rhenium, was named after the Latin word “Rhenus” for the Rhine River in Germany. It was discovered by three German chemists in 1925 and it has the symbol Re, and the atomic number of 75.

Finally, Californium which is a synthetic element with the symbol Cf, and the atomic number of 98. It was discovered at the University of California, Berkeley in 1950, and subsequently named after the state where it was first produced.

Today’s mnemonic will be on the Periodic table, elements 31 to 40.

So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Periodic_table_large.svg

Wikipedia Summary

The periodic table is a table that puts all known chemical elements in a specific order. Elements that have similar characteristics are often put near each other. In the table, the elements are placed in the order of their atomic numbers starting with the lowest number of one, hydrogen.

The atomic number of an element is the same as the number of protons in that particular nucleus of an atom. In the table the elements are arranged into periods and group.

A row of elements across the table is called a period. Each period has a number; from 1 to 8. Period 1 has only 2 elements in it: hydrogen and helium. Period 2 and Period 3 both have 8 elements. Other periods are longer. Elements in a period have consecutive atomic numbers.

A column of elements down the table is called a group. There are 18 groups in the standard periodic table. Each group has a number: from 1 to 18. Elements in a group have electrons arranged in similar ways, according to the number of valency electrons, which gives them similar chemical properties (they behave in similar ways). For example, group 18 is known as the noble gases because they are all gases and they do not combine with other atoms.

There are two systems of group numbers; one using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) and the other using Roman numerals (I, II, III). The Roman numeral names were used in most of the 20th century. In 1990 the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) decided to use the new system with Arabic numerals, to replace the two old group systems that used Roman numerals.

The periodic table has been used by chemists to observe patterns and relationships between elements. There are 3 main groups in the Periodic Table; metals, metalloids, and nonmetals. For example, elements to the bottom and far left of the table are the most metallic, and elements on the top right are the least metallic. (e.g. caesium is much more metallic than helium). There are also many other patterns and relationships.

The periodic table was invented by the Russian chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev (1834–1907). In his honor, element 101 was named after him, mendelevium.

Extracted from: [https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table]

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Mnemonic

The Periodic Table – Elements 31 to 40 Mnemonic – Go GAS BeaKeRS Yield Zirconium

(Picture a special type of gas called Go Gas which is stored in beakers that yields zirconium after sitting there for a prolonged period)

31. Gallium (Ga)

32. Germanium (Ge)

33. Arsenic (As)

34. Selenium (Se)

35. Bromine (Br)

36. Krypton (Kr)

37. Rubidium (Rb)

38. Strontium (Sr)

39. Yttrium (Y)

40. Zirconium (Zr)

Five Fun Facts

1. Dmitri Mendeleyev presented his periodic table on the 6th of March 1869, but this wasn’t the first table. Many scientists arranged the elements in a table, but it was Dmitri Mendeleyev’s table that was deemed credible by the scientific community.

2. The periodic table rows are known as periods, and this is how the periodic table got its name. There are eight periods (according to Wikipedia) on the periodic table, along with eighteen groups. The table has a total of 118 elements, of which 94 occur in nature and 24 are artificially made.

3. Of the 118 elements that currently exist in the table, it may be possible to expand that to 137. Why 137? Well, because to have more than 137 elements, the electrons in an atom would have to travel faster than the speed of light, and this is not possible.

4. Technetium was the first artificial element to be made. It can be produced in nuclear power stations. It has the symbol Tc and the atomic number of 43. It is the lightest element on the table that only holds unstable radioactive isotopes.

5. When the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry met on 28th November 2016, the last four elements had their name and symbol approved. These elements were 113 Nihonium (Nh), 115 Moscovium (Mc), 117 Tennessine (Ts), and 118 Oganesson (Og).