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Uses of elements: The uses of the Elements of the Periodic Table
Hydrogen:
Hydrogen was used to keep blimps and manned balloons aloft
Hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water
Hydrogen is used to make ammonia, fertilizer, margarine and rocket fuel
Isotopes are used in nuclear reactions and Hydrogen bombs
Helium:
Is used today t fill blimps, manned balloons, toy balloons and weather balloons
Scuba divers use a mixture of oxygen and helium to breathe
Helium was used to make the first gas lasers
Today gas lasers are used in bar code scanners
Helium is used as a liquid to cool particle accelerators
Is used by astronomers to eliminate space noise on their detectors
Lithium:
Combines with aluminum to make a light metal used in aircraft and spacecraft
Is used to make small batteries for cameras, calculators, and pacemakers
Is used to purify air in spacecraft and submarines
Is used in some soaps
Used to manufacture lubrication grease, medication for bipolar disease
Isotopes used to make hydrogen bombs
Beryllium:
Is found naturally in gems, it give emeralds and aquamarines their color
Used t make x-ray tubes, rocket fuel, explosives and as a neutron source in
Nuclear labs
Boron:
Used in water softeners, eyewash, heat resistant glass such as pyrex, used in
Control rods in nuclear reactors, used for transistors in vcr’s, computers and
Calculators
Carbon:
Many organic compounds are made from carbon
Many products such as petroleum and perfumes are made from carbon
Natural diamonds are made of carbon
Graphite is made of carbon. Graphite is used in many products, such as pencils
And synthetic diamonds
Carbon makes coal, which is used to make heat and electricity in some areas
Carbon is combined with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is
Exhaled when we breathe, used photosynthesis, used for carbonation in soft
Drinks, and used to make decaffeinated coffee
Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. It is used to freeze many things, such as ice
Cream
Carbon is used to remove pollutants fro the air
Carbon is used in some inks, tires, and dry cells
Carbon combines with nitrogen to make cyanide which is a very toxic poison
Isotopes are used to date rocks and fossils
Nitrogen:
Makes up 78% of the air. Liquid nitrogen is used to freeze foods and as
Biological specimens. Gaseous nitrogen is used t protect electronic equipment.
Nitrogen is used to store fruit for long periods of time. Apples stored in nitrogen
Gas can last 30 months without rotting
Nitrogen is used to pump oil from the ground.
Nitrogen combines with carbon, hydrogen, and other elements to make protein
Nitrogen is used in the production of ammonia and fertilizer
Nitrogen combines with oxygen to form dangerous pollutants
Nitrogen is used to make nitrous oxide, a medicine that serves as a mild anesthetic
Nitrogen is used in whipped cream dispensers
Is used to make dynamite and other explosives
Is used to preserve canned foods
Is used in air bags in cars
Is used in PET scans, which is used in hospitals to detect brain dysfunction
Oxygen:
We use oxygen to breathe. Every cell in the body needs oxygen.
Oxygen makes ozone, which protects us from harmful rays of the sun
Oxygen combines with hydrogen to make water
Combines with just about every element to make a family of compounds called
Oxides
Oxygen makes hydrogen peroxide, which is used as an industrial and cosmetic
Bleach and disinfectant
Is used as a liquid rocket fuel
Fluorine:
Is added to many materials to lower the melting point. Used to enrich U for use
In nuclear power plants. Is added to water supplies and toothpaste to prevent
Tooth decay. Is used to make non-stick coating for pots and pans.
Used in spray cans. Is used in refrigerators as Freon. Air conditioners too.
Isotopes are used in PET scanners.
Neon:
Used in lights because it glows in an orange or red color. Used to liquefy air
Because of its low boiling point
Sodium:
Used to transfer heat out of nuclear reactors. Combines with chlorine to make
Table salt. Used in drain cleaner and oven cleaner. Used in several soaps
Because of its ability to dissolve grease. Used in baking soda. Used in medicine
To provide relief for heartburn. Used in highway lights and fog lights because of
Its yellow glow. Isotopes are used in medicine to trace movement in the body
Magnesium:
When combined with Al, magnesium makes an alloy that is used in automobiles
Is used in fireworks and flares because it gives off a bright white light when burns
Is a valuable mineral for the proper nutrition of the human body
Is used in medicine to treat heartburn. Used to treat leather and other fabrics to
Accept dyes
Aluminum:
Is used for Al foil. Is used in airplane wings. Used in sandpaper and grinding
Tools. Used to make the fire bricks for ovens and furnaces. Used to protect
Spark plugs and transistors. Used in cosmetics for creams and lotions.
Used to make jewlry (rubies and sapphires) used to make wires, reflectors
Antennas and solar mirrors. Combines with copper and used in construction
Used to make cans, pots, and pans. Can be recycled. Used in doors, window
Frames, screens.
Silicon:
Makes up gemstones, such as opals, amethyst, agate, and jasper.
Makes up flint, which ancients used for tools and weapons.
Flint helps start fire. Makes up quartz, which is used in clocks and watches
Quartz crystals are used for control devices for television and radio transmitters
Silicon is used in the production of glass, eyeglass lenses, and lenses for
Telescopes and microscopes.
Pyrex is made from a combination of silicon and boron, used in dishes
Used in ceramics, pottery, china, transistor, solar cells cosmetic surgery
Silicon chips for computers
Phosphorus:
Phosphorus is used to make materials glow, such as lights, glow in the dark clocks
Watches and toys
Phosphorus is used in tv’s to make the image
P is an important nutrient in the body. It produces strong teeth and bones
P is used in laundry soap.
Sulfur:
Used as a food preservative. Sulfur dioxide is an additive to wine and fruit.
Sulfur dioxide is used to make paper.
Sulfuric acid is a compound of sulfur that is used in fertilizers
Sulfuric acid is also used in car batteries and to remove rust from metals
Sulfur used to make rubber, detergents, and paints and gunpowder.
Chlorine:
Used in WW1 as a poison gas. Used as a germ killer in pools and water supplies
Found in bleach. Used to make plastic pipes. HCl is used to clean rust off of
Metals and is found in the stomach for digesting food. Insecticides.
Argon:
A gas used to fill light bulbs and fluorescent bulbs. As a gas in welding.
Used in Geiger counters to sense radiation. Isotopes to date rocks and fossils.
Potassium:
Nutrient in plants. It is essential for plant growth. It is used as a plant fertilizer.
Used in scuba tanks to produce oxygen. Used to make batteries and liquid soap.
Used in explosives and gunpowder. Humans need it to live. Used to date rocks.
Calcium:
Mineral needed by humans for teeth and bones. Medicine for heartburn.
Used in building materials such as plaster and cement.
Used in the production of iron. Ca is found in marble.
Scandium:
Used in aircraft construction. Used in lights at football fields. Used to refine
Petroleum products
Titanium:
Used to house rockets and jet engines. Used to make bike frames. Used to make
Pins for bone surgery because it will not react with tissue. Used in sunscreen.
Gives paint its white color. Also paper and plastics.
Vanadium:
Used to make hard steel in engine parts and cutting tools.
Oxides of Vanadium are used as an oxygen source in making sulfuric acid
V steel is used in the structural parts of nuclear reactors.
Chromium:
Used as a protective and decorative coating for other metals. Is most common
Use for this purpose in car bumpers. Used in the production of stainless steel
Cr is used for coloring paints, cements, and plaster
Cr gives rubies their red color. Rubies are used jewelry and lasers
Cr compounds are used for tanning leather and making recording tapes
Manganese:
Used in hard steel for rifle barrels. Bank vaults, railroad tracks and bulldozers.
Used to purify public water supplies. Used to brighten pottery and ceramics.
Used to make batteries.
Iron:
Used in many products containing steel. Magnets. Carries oxygen as a part
Of hemoglobin molecule.
Cobalt:
Used to make blue glass. Used for high speed drills and other cutting tools.
Used in some magnets. Essential nutrient for humans blood. X-ray machines.
Cancer treatment and for sterilizing food.
Nickel:
Found in the nickel. Used to coat other metals. Heating elements and electric
Ovens, magnets, rechargeable batteries
Copper:
Water pipes and electrical wires. Coating on the penny. Statue of liberty.
Jewelry, building materials, art, bronze alloys – music instruments, paint
That inhibits animal growth on ship bottoms
Zinc:
Used to coat and protect steel in items like garbage cans and fences.
Used in batteries. Chief metal in the penny. Mixes with copper to make brass
Paint, sunscreen, photocopiers, tv screens, computer monitors
Gallium:
Thermometers, lasers, watches disc players, computers, cancer treatment
Germanium;
Transistors and computers
Arsenic:
Rat poison. Weed killer and insecticide. Yellow pigment. Useful medicine for
Skin diseases. Used in computers and light emitting diodes in watches
Selenium:
Robotics. Light detector. Photocopiers. Cancer prevention. Shampoos for
dandruff
Bromine:
Used to remove lead additives from gas. Worm pesticides. Film. Sedatives
Krypton:
Lights for signs and airport runways. Camera flashes and strobe lights
Strontium:
Fireworks and highway warning flares. Used to detect bone diseases
Yttrium:
Moon rocks are high in Y. used in tv tubes. Laser cutting tools. Superconductors
Zirconium:
Space vehicle parts. Diamond substitute. Nuclear reactor rods
Niobium:
Nuclear reactors. Superconductors. Scanners in hospitals, stainless steel
Molybdenum:
Steel and in hospital detection devises for diseases
Technetium:
Used to detect the damage to the heart during a heart attack
Ruthenium:
Used to obtain hydrogen gas. Used in jewelry. Used in fountain pens and
electrical contacts
Rhodium:
Catalytic converters to prevent pollution in cars. Car headlight reflectors
Palladium:
Used in catalytic converters. Dentists use for crowns on teeth
Jewelry and purify hydrogen gas. Treat cancer.
Silver:
Jewelry. Coat mirrors. Utensils, film. Fillings coins sunglasses
Cadmium:
Coat and protect steel. Poison ness to human body. Causes kidney failure.
Found in cigarettes. Used in batteries. Overhead sprinkler systems
Indium:
Transistors and photo cells. Nuclear reactors
Tin:
Foil, cans, solder, electrical connections. Pewter, printing and ceramics, roofs
Antimony:
Matches, wastewater pipes, plastic in credit cards, electrical insulation
Tellurium:
Added to other metals to make them easier to work with
Iodine:
Kills germs. Purify water. Nutrient in diet. Develop film. Test for thyroid gland
disease
Xenon:
Camera flash
Cesium:
Firefighters use it. Reacts with water to produce oxygen. Tv tubes. Atomic clock
Barium:
Spark plugs, paper, plastic, used to find diseases in intestines
Lanthanum:
Search lights, movie projectors, studio lighting,
Cerium:
Line ovens, polish lenses, search lights and move projectors
Praseodymium:
Search lights, yellow paint, car parts, jet parts
Neodymium:
Colored glass in welders goggles and certain lasers. Magnets
Tungsten:
Light bulbs, tv tubes, cutting tools and blades
Platinum:
Jewelry. Refining oil. Dental instruments. Ceramics. Electronics. Glass tubes
Pacemakers. Missiles. Razor blades. Car parts. Treat cancer.
Gold:
Jewelry. Money. Dentist fillings. Coat large glass plates for spaceships.
Computers.
Mercury:
Street lights. Kill fungus. Blasting caps. Batteries.
Lead:
Coins. Sculptures. Pipes. Batteries. Solder. And tv screens. Paint. Gasoline.
Crytal glass. X-ray machines. Nuclear power plants.
Uranium:
Color glass and ceramics in ancient times
Nuclear power plants for energy.