Elemental

Carbon underpins life as we know it, fuels our world and gets its own branch of chemistry, according to AUT professor Allan Blackman, in ep 18 of Elemental.

Carbon is vital for life. It is the second most abundant element in the human body, after oxygen.

It is the basis of an entire branch of chemistry - organic chemistry is all about carbon.

Carbon is important because it has four electrons in its outer shell which makes it a very friendly element: it is always on the look-out for other elements to bond with, to find four more electrons.

There are more than ten million carbon compound (including diamonds, graphene and graphite), which is why it's been dubbed the 'king of elements.'

Carbon is useful for working out the age of anything up to 50,000 years old.

On the minus side, oil, plastic and rising carbon dioxide levels all illustrate the bad side of carbon (or at least our love affair with it).

Find out about the life and times of carbon, with Professor Allan Blackman from AUT.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Calcium creates objects that are strong and beautiful, from caves, to teeth and bones, and coral reefs. Find out more in ep 17 of Elemental, with Allan Blackman from AUT.

Calcium is the most abundant metal in the human body. It is important for teeth and bones as well as the way cells and nerves work, muscles contract and blood clots.

Calcium is also responsible for some of the greatest structures on earth. In Nature, it is the building block for coral reefs, and it is the main ingredient in concrete.

Professor Allan Blackman from AUT presents this episode with his mouth full ... of calcium-rich teeth, that is.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A second, the basic unit of time, is defined by caesium, which is also useful for dating things. Find out more about caesium's role as a timekeeper, in ep 16 of Elemental with Allan Blackman from AUT.

A second, the basic unit of time, is defined by caesium. And an isotope of caesium, produced in atmospheric nuclear tests, means it is also useful for dating things.

Caesium has the chemical symbol Cs, the atomic number 55 and its name comes from the Latin word caesius, meaning sky blue.

Professor Allan Blackman from AUT says that caesium (which Americans spell cesium) is an alkali metal and is the most reactive of all metals, exploding when added to water. It is also pyrophoric and ignites spontaneously in air when the temperature is below 55 degrees celcius.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Cadmium has featured in red traffic lights, rechargeable batteries and now has a role in quantum dots, according to Allan Blackman, from AUT, in ep 15 of Elemental.

Colourful cadmium is a favourite of artists - think cadmium yellow.

Cadmium pigments are heat resistant up to 3000 degrees celcius, and are used to paint glass. Cadmium sulphide is imperial red and has been used to make red glass for the stop light of traffic lights.

But Professor Allan Blackman from AUT tells us it is also toxic.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The story of bromine is one of the color purple, the Dead Sea and an early poison gas used in the First World War, says Allan Blackman from AUT, in ep 14 of Elemental.

Bromine is one of only two elements, out of 118 on the periodic table, which is liquid at room temperature and pressure. It is a dramatic fuming red liquid.

Its name means 'stench' and it is the reason you float in the Dead Sea, was the purple of Roman togas, and was used as an early poison gas in World War One.

Find out more about the element bromine (symbol Br and atomic number 35), with Professor Allan Blackman from AUT.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Made by cosmic rays and supernovae, used in ovenproof cookware, and a key ingredient in the strongest acid ever made. Allan Blackman from AUT explores boron in ep 13 of Elemental.

Boron is made by cosmic rays and supernovae.

It is vital for life - and ovenproof cookware.

Boron is also the basis of the world's strongest acid, created by Kiwi scientist Chris Reed, according to Professor Allan Blackman from AUT.

Boron is atomic number 5, has the symbol B, and is a metalloid that is found in lots of minerals.

It is used as boron nitride and boron carbide in drill tips, which are nearly as hard as diamonds.

We are exploring the periodic table alphabetically and so far we have looked at all the As: actinium, aluminium, americium, antimony, argon, arsenic and astatine.

We are making inroads into the Bs with barium, berkelium and the heavyweights, beryllium and bismuth.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Bismuth is a heavy metal that expands when frozen, and can be used to levitate trains and soothe upset guts, as Allan Blackman from AUT explains in episode 12 of Elemental.

Bismuth is a 'good' heavy metal with some unusual features.

It is a by-product of lead ore that's right at home in our bathroom cabinets.

Professor Allan Blackman from AUT gives us the low-down on bismuth, symbol Bi and atomic number 83.

Bismuth is found in Pepto-Bismol, commonly sold in chemists to treat indigestion and gut problems.

It used to be confused with lead, and is now being used as a non-toxic replacement for lead in things like fishing sinkers.

Bismuth is also the main ingredient of fireworks known as dragon's eggs, which finish their display with a loud cracking sound.

For a long time the bismuth-209 isotope was thought to have the heaviest stable nucleus of any element, but in 2003 it was found to be very weakly radioactive. However, it has an extremely long half life: 19 exayears or 19 quintillion years, which is more than a billion times longer than the age of the universe. That is such a long half-life that bismuth is, for all intents and purposes, stable.

Its unusual features include expanding when it is frozen (strange for a solid) and being diagmagentic, which means it is repelled by magnetic fields, rather than attracted. As a result, it is used in super-fast magnetic levitation trains.

The Elemental team was delighted to find out on Twitter about a 9-year-old fan of the podcast who's favourite element is bismuth - here's why:

He said to say - because bismuth crystals grow like a rainbow coloured staircase 🌈 pic.twitter.com/S1bgJ9Bxbl

- Bay Heritage Wgtn📚 (@Libbylou27) March 26, 2019

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

You'll find beryllium in precious jewels and a space telescope mirror, but just don't inhale the dust - all in episode 11 of Elemental, with AUT's Professor Allan Blackman.

Beryllium is a very light metal (atomic number 4, symbol Be), found at the top of the periodic table.

It's colourless, but in combination with other chemicals you'll find it on jewel-encrusted rings and necklaces in the form of emeralds, beryls and aquamarines.

It tastes sweet but it's poisonous (so don't eat it or inhale the dust).

And Professor Allan Blackman from AUT says that beryllium is being used to create the massive mirrors that will be part of the upcoming James Webb space telescope.

We are exploring the periodic table alphabetically and so far we have looked at all the As: actinium, aluminium, americium, antimony, argon, arsenic and astatine.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The heaviest elements on the periodic table have only ever existed fleetingly in the lab, so Allan Blackman from AUT has grouped them all together in episode 10 of Elemental.

The periodic table goes all the way to atomic number 118. And the bigger the number, the more electrons an element has - and the heavier it is.

The heaviest chemical elements on the periodic table have only ever existed fleetingly in the lab, so we've lumped most of them together in episode 9 of Elemental, with Professor Allan Blackman from AUT.

The 'synthetic heavyweights' have been created in labs in the US, Russia, Germany and Japan. And the names usually make it clear in which country the element was created.

They are created by the bombardment of elements in a particle accelerator.

Elements 92 and above are known as the transuranic elements - they are all heavy, very unstable and decay radioactively.

The heaviest element found to date is oganesson (chemical symbol Og, atomic number 118). It was discovered in 2002 and its discovery was formally recognised in 2015.

In 2016, element 118 was named after nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian, and it's one of only two elements named after someone who was still alive at the time of naming. The other scientist honoured by an elemental name during his lifetime was the late Glenn Seaborg.

This episode of Elemental includes:

93 Neptunium Np

97 Berkelium Bk

98 Californium Cf

99 Einsteinium Es

100 Fermium Fm

101 Mendelevium Md

102 Nobelium No

103 Lawrencium Lr

104 Rutherfordium Rf

105 Dubnium Db

106 Seaborgium Sg

107 Bohrium Bh

108 Hassium Hs

110 Darmstadtium Ds

111 Roentgenium Rg

112 Copernicium Cn

113 Nihonium Nh

114 Flerovium Fl

115 Moscovium Mc

116 Livermorium Lv

117 Tennessine Ts

118 Oganesson Og

Element 95, americium, got its own Elemental episode, as will curium and meitnerium, uranium and plutonium.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Barium is never found on its own in nature, as it loves buddying up - but a version of it is found in hospitals. Allan Blackman from AUT reveals barium's secrets in episode 9 of Elemental.

Barium loves to buddy up with other chemicals, which means it doesn't occur on its own in nature.

This alkaline earth metal (symbol Ba and atomic number 56) is used to visualise the gut during diagnostic x-rays and will be familiar to anyone who has had to go to hospital for a barium meal or a barium enema.

Professor Allan Blackman from AUT explores barium in episode 8 of Elemental.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details