Category Archives: Periodic Blackwork

Protactinium – element 91 but my 100th element stitched! Not all have been posted so far, but this milestone means that I have just lanthanum and actinium left in the f-block before moving on up the s-block to top it off with hydrogen. Then it’s decision time on Group 3 – where to place scandiumContinue reading “Discovery by decay”

…and useful in the infrared. Many of erbium’s uses mostly rely on the characteristic delicate pink colour of its compounds. When added to glass, it gives a pink tinge – useful for sunglasses, imitation gems and photographic filters. Erbium oxide is used as a ceramic glaze. Aside from the aesthetic, erbium is useful in medicineContinue reading “Pretty in pink…”

I’m feeling rather guilty about my choice of design for nobelium as we all know that Alfred Nobel wanted to be remembered for his prizes rather than for the invention of dynamite. Nevertheless, a round medal doesn’t lend itself to an interesting or recognisable pattern and try as I might, all I could come upContinue reading “A Nobel reward”

Following on from cerium, four more elements named for planets and represented by the classical deities these planets are named for. Uranium was the first to be named, in 1789 by Martin Klaproth and eight years after the discovery by William Herschel of the planet Uranus. Uranus was the Greek god of the sky, whichContinue reading “Heavenly bodies”

The naming of cerium helped establish a trend that started in the late 18th century of naming elements after a recently discovered planet. Uranium was first, discovered and named in 1789 by Martin Klaproth just a few years after William Herschel discovered Uranus. And then in quick succession at the start of the 19th centuryContinue reading “All is safely gathered in”

The names of the rare earth elements may not trip off the tongue of the person on the street but that’s not to say that they haven’t found uses in modern life. Here are five of this first row of the f-block, represented by their applications. Although I’ve plumped for a particular use for aContinue reading “Rare earth applications”

Didymium, Di, only existed for 44 years. It was discovered in 1841 by Swedish chemist Carl Mosander, extracted from the ore ceria which was already known to contain cerium and lanthanum. As didymium was very similar to these elements, Mosander named it from the Greek word for twin, and Mendeleev placed it in his originalContinue reading “Twins”

Of all the tales I have read about element discovery, that of einsteinium and fermium truly shocked me. I had assumed that all the man-made elements were the result of planned experiments in the particle accelerators of nuclear science laboratories, but the way in which these two were discovered was both extraordinary and tragic. RatherContinue reading “Dark clouds”

Today two elements with names derived from places. In fact they are named after the same place. The University of California, Berkeley has been the home of many element discoveries (see Lawrencium and Seaborgium) including berkelium in 1949 and californium in 1950. I have represented berkelium with the most recognisable building at UC Berkeley: theContinue reading “Berkelium, Californium”

Curium is named for Marie and Pierre Curie, pioneers in the field of radioactivity (a word they coined). When we think of the Curies we tend to think of Nobel Prizes. It is easy to forget the hard grind of the bench chemistry that went into their achievements, and in particular the discovery of theContinue reading “Curium”