Interesting and Weird Metallic Elements

I really like science. There are so many interesting and weird things to know about.

This page is about metallic elements.

Did you know?

  • The word ‘metal’ comes from the Greek word metallon which means to mine or to dig out of the ground.
  • Three-quarters of all the elements are metals.
  • Lithium is so light, it will float on water. (But not for long. Water reacts violently with lithium!)

    Hg
    Drops of mercury
  • If you put all the gold in the whole world into one cube it would only be 60′ x 60′ x 60′ (at least that what some scientists think).
  • Mercury is liquid at room temperature. So are cesium and gallium (if your room is heated to 85˚F).
  • Technetium is so rare it wasn’t even discovered until 1936. And it is totally radioactive.
  • Some people are allergic to nickel.
  • Iron is what makes your blood red. Crabs and other crustaceans do not have iron in their blood. They have copper, which makes their blood blueish. Some sea shrimps have green blood because they use vanadium to transport oxygen.

    Horseshoe crab blood is blue!
    Horseshoe crab blood is actually blue!
  • The most common metal found in the Earth’s crust is aluminum, but before an easy method was found to isolate it from its ore, aluminum was more expensive than gold. In England, aluminum is spelled with an extra i: aluminium and pronounced al-you-MIN-ee-um.
  • The center of the Earth is molten iron.
  • In my opinion, the metallic elements with the weirdest names are: praseodymium (prays-ee-oh-DIM-ee-um) and dysprosium (dis-PROS-ee-um).
  • You would have to heat tungsten to 6,192°F before it would melt!gold
  • If you drop a piece of potassium into water, it will explode!
  • Sodium is so soft, you can cut it with a knife.
  • All metallic elements are silver, gray, or almost black…except two: gold and copper.

Do you know anything interesting about metallic elements?

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Comments from my Readers & Friends

  1. Metals are attracted to Electricity and Lightning, so The Metal Copper is almost ALWAYS used in wires

  2. the freezing point is 0 degrees celcius an boiling point is 100 degrees.the Babylonians use a scale of 3.Iwonder why 100 degrees instead of 99

  3. Did you know gold can melt at 1000 degrees Celsius and frozen by -1000 degrees Celsius.

    1. I asked my dad and he said the melting and and freezing points of something are the same…because went something melts it’s going from solid to liquid and when something solidifies, it’s going from liquid to solid. For gold (I looked it up) you’re almost exactly right. It’s 1064 C.

  4. Gold not only can be hard to find, but it never tarnishes (gets dirty or broken.) Hence why it’s so valuable.
    Also, after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii, scientists found gold bracelets (and unbroken eggs funnily enough) that had survived thousands of years buried under layers of ash.

  5. when you said drops of mercury i thought of drops of jupiter in her hair LOL my dad got me hooked into old songs and stuff plus it played on the radio i listened to it only once though

    1. Wow! That is a very excellent reference. I had heard that song (Drops of Jupiter) once before (like you), but now I went online to listen to it. Very cool video.

  6. $3,542,000,000,000 for a POUND of anti hydrogen. It is not a metal, but I needed to put it here. Also, the weirdest name is actually yttrium. Though this is an opinion, I am sure you will agree.

    1. I think ytterbium is actually weirder than yttrium. But I’ll stick with praseodymium and dysprosium as the winners.

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