← Whyarium no. 51 The Full Set

The Full Set

All 118 elements, one card each. Pull any of them from the table: turn the sample in your hand, then flip to its atom and change the isotope. The rarity on each card is how much of it there is in the Earth's crust.

1HHydrogen 2HeHelium 3LiLithium 4BeBeryllium 5BBoron 6CCarbon 7NNitrogen 8OOxygen 9FFluorine 10NeNeon 11NaSodium 12MgMagnesium 13AlAluminum 14SiSilicon 15PPhosphorus 16SSulfur 17ClChlorine 18ArArgon 19KPotassium 20CaCalcium 21ScScandium 22TiTitanium 23VVanadium 24CrChromium 25MnManganese 26FeIron 27CoCobalt 28NiNickel 29CuCopper 30ZnZinc 31GaGallium 32GeGermanium 33AsArsenic 34SeSelenium 35BrBromine 36KrKrypton 37RbRubidium 38SrStrontium 39YYttrium 40ZrZirconium 41NbNiobium 42MoMolybdenum 43TcTechnetium 44RuRuthenium 45RhRhodium 46PdPalladium 47AgSilver 48CdCadmium 49InIndium 50SnTin 51SbAntimony 52TeTellurium 53IIodine 54XeXenon 55CsCesium 56BaBarium 57LaLanthanum 58CeCerium 59PrPraseodymium 60NdNeodymium 61PmPromethium 62SmSamarium 63EuEuropium 64GdGadolinium 65TbTerbium 66DyDysprosium 67HoHolmium 68ErErbium 69TmThulium 70YbYtterbium 71LuLutetium 72HfHafnium 73TaTantalum 74WTungsten 75ReRhenium 76OsOsmium 77IrIridium 78PtPlatinum 79AuGold 80HgMercury 81TlThallium 82PbLead 83BiBismuth 84PoPolonium 85AtAstatine 86RnRadon 87FrFrancium 88RaRadium 89AcActinium 90ThThorium 91PaProtactinium 92UUranium 93NpNeptunium 94PuPlutonium 95AmAmericium 96CmCurium 97BkBerkelium 98CfCalifornium 99EsEinsteinium 100FmFermium 101MdMendelevium 102NoNobelium 103LrLawrencium 104RfRutherfordium 105DbDubnium 106SgSeaborgium 107BhBohrium 108HsHassium 109MtMeitnerium 110DsDarmstadtium 111RgRoentgenium 112CnCopernicium 113NhNihonium 114FlFlerovium 115McMoscovium 116LvLivermorium 117TsTennessine 118OgOganesson
57–71
89–103
Lanthanides
Actinides

Alkali metals

Soft, silvery and so eager to lose their one outer electron that they fizz in water.

Alkaline earth metals

Two outer electrons, a little calmer than the alkalis; the stuff of bones, shells and fireworks.

Transition metals

The broad middle of the table: hard, shiny, often coloured, the metals of tools and coins.

Post-transition metals

Softer metals with low melting points, from aluminium foil to tin and lead.

Metalloids

Half metal, half not. Silicon and germanium made the electronics age.

Reactive nonmetals

Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, selenium: most of what living things are made of.

Halogens

One electron short of a full shell and hungry for it; they make salts with metals.

Noble gases

Full outer shells, so they barely react. Pass a current through them and they glow.

Lanthanides

The rare earths: strong magnets, phone screens and lasers.

Actinides

All radioactive. Uranium and thorium occur in nature; most of the rest are made in reactors.

95. Americium (Am)

Lives inside your smoke detector. A household smoke detector holds about 0.3 micrograms of americium-241, whose alpha particles ionise the air in a small chamber. Seaborg first revealed the element on a children's radio quiz show, Quiz Kids, in 1945.

Class
Actinides
Atomic mass
[243] u
State
solid at room temperature
Discovered
1944, Glenn Seaborg's team, Berkeley and Chicago
Melting point
1176 °C
In Earth's crust
– · Made by people
Electron shells
2, 8, 18, 32, 25, 8, 2
Isotopes
Am-243, half-life 7,350 years; Am-241, half-life 432 years