It’s great to see that last month’s review in Chemistry World is prompting happy memories of Brian’s lectures and entertaining conversation – see Dinner and a demonstration from Ian Dale in this month’s Letters: https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/letters-august-2020/4012167.article
Author Archives: clareewilkes
House and home
Today, two elements in the last group of the Periodic Table, Group 18: radon and argon. Radon is found towards the bottom of the group; it is a heavy element that is unstable and therefore radioactive. It has a half-life of only 3.5 days so doesn’t hang around for long, but is continually generated fromContinue reading “House and home”
Health and hygiene
Fluorine and chlorine, the two elements at the top of Group 17, are both important for keeping us healthy. The elements themselves are highly reactive toxic gases and if inhaled cause severe lung damage. Several chemists were injured, some fatally, in attempts to isolate elemental fluorine, and chlorine gas was put to devastating use inContinue reading “Health and hygiene”
Progress update
As I have taken the plunge this evening and made this blog live, it seems an appropriate time to give a progress update. As you can see, the p-block is starting to look quite well populated, as is this end of the transition elements. The only two completed elements not visible are iridium and europiumContinue reading “Progress update”
Location, location, location
According to the rules of the international Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), a new element can be named after a mythological concept or character (including an astronomical object), a mineral or similar substance, a place or geographical region, a property of the element, or a scientist. These three elements, numbers 115, 116 andContinue reading “Location, location, location”
Chemistry World
First posted on FB 05/06/2020 Delighted to be reviewed in Chemistry World, the membership magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry. To quote Professor Bill Griffith, “an enchanting memoir… a joy to read, clearly written and fully reference with an excellent index.” (Given that I did the indexing myself, I’m pretty chuffed with it beingContinue reading “Chemistry World”
Periodic greetings
This is one of a series of greetings cards I have made using the letters and numbers of the periodic table. The beautiful papers used here and on my homepage are designed and printed in Cambridge by Cambridge Imprints.
Symbols of nations
First posted on FB 15/04/2020 One year ago today a huge fire took hold of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. She has stood on the bank of the Seine for over 850 years and in the aftermath of the fire it became clear just how much this church building means to France. In contrast,Continue reading “Symbols of nations”
Periodic Table of Nottingham
First posted on FB 14/03/2020 When I was in Nottingham last year I took a quick snap of the Periodic Table of Nottingham where all element symbols stand for something associated with the city. I looked at sulfur, S, to see if it stood for Shaw (but it is Standard Hill) but didn’t have timeContinue reading “Periodic Table of Nottingham”
A demo with impact
First posted on FB 14/03/2020 Here is Jim demonstrating the explosive power of an intimate mixture of potassium chlorate and phosphorous (the heap of white powder). Shaw devised a method to mix these two compounds safely and always cautioned that it is NOT an experiment to try at home, saying “You may start such anContinue reading “A demo with impact”
