This blog is my attempt to reconnect with the world of chemistry. I have a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry and make a living doing research for a large company in Michigan. As times have changed, that company has changed its focus and I no longer have as much chance to do the basic, fundamental research which I most enjoy. Through this blog, I am hoping to recapture the magic which I felt during my graduate (and undergraduate) days in college. Expect topics on chemistry and alchemy along with some non-chemistry related items which I think might be interesting.

"The chymists are a strange class of mortals, impelled by an almost insane impulse to seek their pleasure among smoke and vapour, soot and flame, poisons and poverty; yet among all these evils I seem to live so sweetly that may I die if I would change places with the Persian King."

Johann Joachim Becher (phlogistonist)
Acta Laboratorii Chymica Monacensis, seu Physica Subterranea, (1669).

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Do We Really Need Another Element?

Just great. They’ve officially decided to add element 112 to the periodic table. Like I really needed another name to memorize.
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can always stick to just memorizing the IUPAC names for the super-heavy elements. Ununbium is fun enough.

June 11, 2009 at 8:33 PM
Chemist Ken said...

True Will, but I've always enjoyed coming up with mnemonic phrases for memorizing the element and their position on the periodic table. I find it to be a lot easier to generate a provocative phrase to remember the "Rf, Db, Sg, Bh, Hs, Mt" sequence than the "Unq, Unp, Unh, Uns, Uno, Une" sequence. A character defect perhaps?

June 12, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Unknown said...

hahahaha, that made me laugh!

March 12, 2010 at 1:51 AM

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