The general public may not be familiar with lanthanides, actinides, and transactinides, but these elements comprise approximately 35 percent of the total number of known elements. Attempts to produce new elements or new isotopes of known elements constitute an active area of scientific research.
Providing high school and college students with an up-to-date understanding of these elements, Lanthanides and Actinides explains how they were discovered, as well as the practical applications that these elements have in today's scientific, technological, medical, and military communities....
The general public may not be familiar with lanthanides, actinides, and transactinides, but these elements comprise approximately 35 percent of the to...
More so than any of the other major groups of elements in the periodic table, the transition metals have shaped human history and have been the workhorses of industry. The discovery of metallic copper ended the Stone Age and ushered in the Bronze Age. Alloys of iron (especially steel) later took over, and the Iron Age replaced the Bronze Age. Copper, silver, and gold and, more recently, platinum have been the precious metals from which coins and jewelry have been made from ancient times to the present.
Each chapter in the new, full-color Transition Metals discusses a group of elements,...
More so than any of the other major groups of elements in the periodic table, the transition metals have shaped human history and have been the workho...
Metals and Metalloids presents the current scientific understanding of the physics, chemistry, geology, and biology of these two families of elements, including the post-transition metals and metalloids.
Metals and Metalloids presents the current scientific understanding of the physics, chemistry, geology, and biology of these two families of elements,...
Scientists categorize the chemical elements as metals, nonmetals, and metalloids largely based on the elements' abilities to conduct electricity at normal temperatures and pressures, but there are other distinctions taken into account when classifying the elements in the periodic table. The alkali metals, for example, are metals, but have such special properties that they are given their own classification. The same is true for the alkaline earths.
Scientists categorize the chemical elements as metals, nonmetals, and metalloids largely based on the elements' abilities to conduct electricity at...
In spite of their adjacency in the periodic table, the properties of halogens and nonmetals are very different. The halogens are among the most chemically reactive elements in the periodic table, exhibiting a diverse chemistry in terms of the large numbers of compounds they can form. On the other hand, noble gases are the least chemically reactive elements. In fact, before the 1960s, chemists referred to these elements as inert gases, because it was believed that they exhibited no chemistry whatsoever. It was discovered, however, that krypton and xenon are capable of bonding with other...
In spite of their adjacency in the periodic table, the properties of halogens and nonmetals are very different. The halogens are among the most che...
Materials that are poor conductors of electricity are generally considered nonmetals. One important use of nonmetals is the ability to insulate against current flow. The Earth's atmosphere is composed of nonmetallic elements, but lightning can break down the electron bonds and allow huge voltages to make their way to the ground. Water in its pure form is nonmetallic, though it almost always contains impurities called electrolytes that allow for an electric field.
Materials that are poor conductors of electricity are generally considered nonmetals. One important use of nonmetals is the ability to insulate agains...
