Favorite element

[rrrrr]

What's the element that you like the most?

[Skyblade]

*points to profile picture*

Yeah, I like Rubidium. I got it for a chemistry project in 10th grade, and I still think it's cool.

What about you, Rrrrr?

[Gonff the Mousethief]

Vibranium  . If anyone knows which metal that is.

[The Skarzs]

Silence, scum! O:<


. . . Anyways, I borrowed a very in-depth book on the elements that went into uses, date it was found, history, whether or not it's poisonous, etc., so I've seen quite a few interesting elements.
  One element that a lot of people don't know about that should get recognition is boron. The name itself doesn't lend it any attractiveness, but an alloy of it, cubic boron nitride, is hard enough to cut through most materials, and it is comparable to a diamond, the two materials being able to scratch each other. (Similarly, if they were able to make it, wurtzite boron nitride would be the hardest material known to man, outdoing diamond by quite a bit.) It's about as light as aluminum and very strong, but unfortunately it is rather rare.  It is number 5 on the elements.

  But I do really love iron.

[Morgazath]

Silence, scum! O:<


. . . Anyways, I borrowed a very in-depth book on the elements that went into uses, date it was found, history, whether or not it's poisonous, etc., so I've seen quite a few interesting elements.
  One element that a lot of people don't know about that should get recognition is boron. The name itself doesn't lend it any attractiveness, but an alloy of it, cubic boron nitride, is hard enough to cut through most materials, and it is comparable to a diamond, the two materials being able to scratch each other. (Similarly, if they were able to make it, wurtzite boron nitride would be the hardest material known to man, outdoing diamond by quite a bit.) It's about as light as aluminum and very strong, but unfortunately it is rather rare.  It is number 5 on the elements.

  But I do really love iron.

Because your heart is iron.

[The Skarzs]

Titanium is really nice too, and tin is one of my most sought-after elements.

[LT Sandpaw]

Oxygen...

[Wylder Treejumper]

 

Aluminum for the win!

[Hickory]

Americium. 'MURICA!!!

I really like Xenon, the stuff in LEDs.

[rrrrr]

Silence, scum! O:<


. . . Anyways, I borrowed a very in-depth book on the elements that went into uses, date it was found, history, whether or not it's poisonous, etc., so I've seen quite a few interesting elements.
  One element that a lot of people don't know about that should get recognition is boron. The name itself doesn't lend it any attractiveness, but an alloy of it, cubic boron nitride, is hard enough to cut through most materials, and it is comparable to a diamond, the two materials being able to scratch each other. (Similarly, if they were able to make it, wurtzite boron nitride would be the hardest material known to man, outdoing diamond by quite a bit.) It's about as light as aluminum and very strong, but unfortunately it is rather rare.  It is number 5 on the elements.

  But I do really love iron.

That is true. It is surprising how many people do not know that.

[Hickory]

One of the things one must think about is how diamond may be the hardest material known to man, but is it the strongest? (I actually ripped that statement off of game theory, they talked about whether diamond armor is actually the best kind of armor IRL.)

[Jetthebinturong]

The answer was no. I haven't watched that episode in a while. Do you watch his other channel, Film Theory?

[Hickory]

Not yet.

[The Skarzs]

Diamonds can be easily shattered in real life, like hitting it with a hammer in the right direction will shear the crystalline structure.

In hardness, it is nearly unparalleled, except in cubic boron nitride, but a major problem with diamonds are that they are carbon. That means that they will bond with certain metals, especially iron, when heated, rendering them useless in some things like diamond grinding wheels after prolonged usage. In addition to that, they'll burn up rather easily in heat, whereas boron nitride will not.

Strength and hardness are two very different things. Tungsten is very hard and dense, but it will shatter if it ends up going into a position under stress. Aluminum really relies on alloys to give it much strength, the best being comparable to mild steel, and it will almost never crack when stretched or bent like steel might. Steel is arguably the best metal in the world, because iron is plentiful, relatively easy and clean to make (much cleaner than aluminum), you can alloy it in hundreds of ways for hundreds of different traits, it can be hardened to extreme hardness, and tempered to be springs, knives, mechanical parts, etc. Chrome is very tough against cracking or breaking through stretching and it will never rust, bronze and brass are useful for plumbing as they will never rust and don't put harmful things into water. . . Titanium is amazing stuff, though; no destructive oxidation, strength better than the best steel, harder than a file, usable as body implants as the body won't reject it. . . I could go on.

[rrrrr]

My favorite element used to be Selenium in 7th grade.

Here's another story:

In 7th grade, I was part of the middle school science bowl team, and everyone else asked what element do you want to eat. I said selenium, because it makes you crazy. Then, they asked me where does selenium exist, and I said, "right in this pencil".