Fun Facts We Didn't Need To Know

[gwand]

It is the most abundant element in the universe. It will soon fuel most of our automobiles.

 

[Essjay]

Just checked, yes hydrogen is still a non-metal. But there is now another category since I did my degree - metalloid. These straddle the line between metals and non-metals in the periodic table - boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, tellurium, polonium and astatine.

 

[gwand]

Just checked, yes hydrogen is still a non-metal. But there is now another category since I did my degree - metalloid. These straddle the line between metals and non-metals in the periodic table - boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, tellurium, polonium and astatine.

There is yet another category - Metal Head

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Hydrogen is (or was when I was at university) classed as a non-metal.

Well, that's why I teach music instead of chemistry! ha ha

 

[jaylach]

Well, that's why I teach music instead of chemistry! ha ha

While a non-metal hydrogen DOES have some characteristics if an alkali metal. Hydrogen can behave as a metal when it becomes a solid under extremely high pressure and other favorable conditions. In the solid or metallic phase, hydrogen acts as an electrical conductor. Still, it is considered a non-metal.

 

[Essjay]

Things do different things when subjected to high or low pressure and temperature. That's why we used the phrase "STP" - standard temperature and pressure - 25 deg C and 760 mm mercury for behaviour under 'normal' conditions.

 

[JackGulley]

The Latin word “canis/canem” (from whence we get “canine”) is cognate (descended from the same root) with English “hound”.

 

[Naughts]

A quarter of 18-34 year olds have never answered their phone. Instead, they simply ignore it when it rings and opt to text a friend or family member, rather than calling them back.

 

[Ichthys]

The speed of light is not constant. It travels at different speeds depending on what it's traveling through. It's fastest speed is 186,000 miles per second, when it's traveling through a vacuum. It slows down to travel through air, and glass, etc.

(Speaking of metals), sodium is a metal with the consistency of soft cheese at room temperature.

It reacts violently with oxygen so has to be kept covered in oil.

At temperatures approaching absolute zero it is almost transparent. At these temperatures, the speed of light passing through it is less than 30mph.