[Kalzium] Ideas for icons, was Re: Icons for Kalzium

[Myriam Schweingruber]

Hi Carsten

as my mail is pretty long I send it to you directly instead of sending it to 
the mailing list.

Le Samedi, 17. Février 2007, Carsten Niehaus a écrit:
> 
> Thanks for all of your contributions! I just updated the homepage and added
> all information you asked for! Please tell me if more instructions are
> needed!

Congratulations for the great icons created! Unfortunately I'm not able to 
design some myself, but I can make suggestions for icon motives. Find below 
suggestions for icons and uses of the elements. Hope you can use this.

BTW, I would love to see uses of the elements and their compounds in everyday 
life added to the element informations. I'll file a whishlist-"bug" about 
this feature ASAP :-). 

Kind regards, Myriam


Sources for the list below:
English and German Wikipedia, http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/, http:// 
www.webelements.com and my professional knowledge (I am a chemist).


 1 H (hydrogen) cryogenic, luminous paints (Tritium)

 2 He (helium) for scuba-diving, arc-welding

 3 Li (lithium) desiccant (hydroxide), in mobile phones (see Ta), air cleaning 
in spacecrafts (reacts with CO2 -> O2), in red firework

 4 Be (Beryllium) gyroscopes

 5 B (boron) green firework, washing powder, fishing rods, wood protection

 6 C (carbon) a fern, fullerene (soccer ball), a chimney sweep. Activated 
charcoal to absorb toxins and poisons in medicine, C-14 for organic matter 
dating in archeology

 7 N (nitrogen) explosives, beer dispensers, laughing gas

 8 O (oxygen) an oxygen mask. Used for welding, oxydation.

 9 F (fluorine) a fridge. Used for cooling in fridges and air-conditioning.

11 Na (sodium) soap. Desiccant in water-free solvants.

12 Mg (magnesium) anti-slipping powder on hands (talc used in gymnastics, 
climbing), also used in muscle conductivity (against cramps in the legs for 
example), extensively used for its laxative proprieties.

13 Al (aluminium) mirror (see remark under As). Main metallic compound in the 
following gemstones: topaz, corundum (ruby and sapphire), chrysoberyl, 
spinel, turquoise.

14 Si (silicon) computer chip, concrete, bricks, solar cells. Pottery, enamel. 
Main compound (other than H and O) in the following gemstones: quartz, opal, 
beryl (aquamarine, emerald, heliodor).

15 P (phosphorus) desiccant, In bones and proteins.

16 S (sulfur) car battery, car tyres (vulcanized rubber). Fungicide, fumigant, 
conservative for dried fruits and wine

19 K (potassium) may I suggest not to mention K as a Na substitute, as this is 
a very bad idea from the medical point of view, most people who have to cut 
down on Na have kidney problems and K can not be eliminated anymore which 
causes heart arrest (remember the K injection during executions?)

20 Ca (calcium) stalactites and stalagmites in caves. Cement, mortar, 
concrete. Plaster to fix broken bones.

21 Sc (scandium) in alloys used for bycicle-frames and lacrosse sticks. High 
intensity lights (added to mercury-vapor lamps)

22 Ti (titanium) frames for glasses, medical instruments, hip or knee 
prothesis, heat protection shield of spacecrafts

23 V (vanadium) with chromium and iron alloy for tools (resists corrosion), 
magnets

24 Cr (chromium) to harden steel in iron alloys (see above), leather tanning, 
yellow paints. Is part of jewels (emerald and ruby), surface protection 
against corrosion

25 Mn (manganese) various alloys, oxidation agent (permanganate). In amethyst. 
Important enzymes in eukaryotic (bacteria and animal) metabolism to prevent 
toxic effect of oxygen.

26 Fe (iron) tools, cars, etc. Blood (a vampire?)

27 Co (cobalt) blue paint, jet engine, radiotherapy against cancer, vitamine 
B12, food-irradiation

28 Ni (nickel) small coins, in batteries, in many corrosion-resistant alloys

29 Cu (copper) copper coloured coins, wires

30 Zn (zinc) brass instruments, batteries, white paint

31 Ga (gallium) blue LED's, neutrino detection, replaces mercury in 
thermometers

32 Ge (germanium) in night-view glasses, thermographic cameras, semiconductor

33 As (arsenic) pyrotechnics and firework, wafer-coating
There is _no_ arsenic in mirrors AFAIK, contemporary mirrors are made of 
aluminium, eventually silver, the latter to make "one-way" mirrors. Older 
mirrors were made of a Zn-Hg alloy (before they were forbidden because of 
their toxicity according to German Wikipedia)
BTW, lead shot mentioned here:http://edu.kde.org/kalzium/icon_ideas.php can 
contain antimony, but no arsenic. It's already toxic enough with lead, so 
hunting with a lead-arsenic alloy would make the preys totally useless for 
consommation.

35 Br (bromine) is not used anymore as a disinfectant because of its toxicity. 
It has been totally replaced by organic Iodine compounds.

36 Kr (krypton) Superman, as many kids can associate it to "kriptonite" :-)

37 Rb (Rubidium) atomic clock in satelites

38 Sr (strontium) the red "phosphor" in CRT colour screens

39 Y (yttrium) red colour in TV-tubes, microwaves (a microwave oven?)

40 Zr (zirconium) "fake" diamonds, in nuclear reactors, bicycle-frames

41 Nb (niobium) antiallergic jewellery, pacemaker, in particle accelerators 
(CERN)

42 Mo (molybdenum) high temperature lubricant, in alloys for space- and 
aircraft parts, high-strength steel alloys, red and orange paints

43 Tc (technetium) radioactive tracer in medical test for various organs 
because of it's short half-life (6 hours)

44 Ru (ruthenium) hardener for platinum, palladium and titan, Parker 51 
fountain pen has a ruthenium-hardened nib.

45 Rh (rhodium) used for electrodes, jewellery (protects gold and platinum 
against corrosion), car catalytic converters, catalyst in many chemical 
reactions

46 Pd (palladium) jewellery, crowns in dentistry, in watches, surgical 
instruments, to make white gold, in car catalytic converters (replaces the 
more expensive platinum)

47 Ag (silver) jewellery, mirror, money

48 Cd (cadmium) nuclear fission barrier, in batteries. 

50 Zn (tin) pewter plates or other tableware, tin cans, solder (solded 
circuits?)

51 Sb (antimony) solder, red matches, fire-protection
regarding the "anti-germ" use: actually it has no use against bacterias but as 
an anti-parasitic drug, mainly against shistosoma, a flatworm parasite and 
leishmania, a flagelate worm.

52 Te (tellurium) optical fiber (as chalcogenic glass), has higher refractions 
than SiO2

53 I (iodine) seaweed (smell)

54 Xe (xenon) car lights, film projectors, stroboscopes, anaesthesia

56 Ba (barium) X-ray diagnosis of the gastro-intestinal tube, green firework, 
benitoite gem stone (blue), high-refraction glass

57 La (lanthanum) flintstone in lighters (mischmetal), in NiMeH batteries

58 Ce (cerium) in mischmetal together with lanthanum or as ferrocerium 
(flintstone), catalyst in "self-cleaning" oven alloys, glass polishing

59 Pr (praseodymium) in mischmetal as flintstone, carbon arc lights

60 Nd (neodymium) strong magnets in microphones, loudspeakers, harddisks, 
volcano eruption prediction, high energy lasers

61 Pr (promethium)  luminous paint. Gauges to mesure thickness and/ord filling 
levels.

62 Sm (samarium) Carbon arc lights, neutron-absorber, quartz watches, 
harddisks, headphones

63 Eu (europium) red phosphor in fluorescent lamps and CRT monitors, in 
euro-banknotes as an anti-counterfeiting phosphor.

64 Gd (gadolinium) in CD and RAM manufacturing. Organic compounds of Gd are 
injected during magnetic resonance imaging as a paramagnetic agent. Could 
replace F compounds in fridges and airconditioning.

65 Tb (terbium) doping materials in solid-state devices, crystal stabilisator 
in high-temperature fuel cells

66 Dy (dysprosium) CD manufacturing

67 Ho (holmium) yellow glass colouring

68 Er (erbium) pink glass and enamel colouring

69 Tm (thulium) in dosimeters for low-radiation detection

70 Yb (ytterbium) radiation source for portable X-ray devices, as a difluorite 
compound in high quality dentistry filings which allows a permanent fluoride 
protection.

71 Lu (lutetium) szintigraphic crystal for PET-scanning

72 Hf (hafnium) flash lamps in photography, HfO2 will replace SiO2 in wafers 
(announcements made by IBM and Intel in January 2007)

73 Ta (tantalum) high melting point alloys, surgical instruments, cranial 
repair plates, microelectronic devices (in mobilephones), on cameralenses

74 W (tungsten) darts (the game), electric lamp filament, electron tubes, high 
melting point alloys, kinetic energy penetrators (anti-tank ammunition), 
glass-to-metal seals, violin strings, jewellery, etc.

75 Re (rhenium) car catalysts together with platinum, filaments in mass 
spectrography, fountain pen tips

76 Os (osmium) very hard alloys, fountain pen tips, OsO4 was used to take 
fingerprints before graphite, phonograph needles, pacemakers (platinum alloy)

77 Ir (iridium) sparkplugs, crucibles for high temperature use, polymer LED, 
the platinum-iridium alloy is used for standard weights

78 Pt (platinum) jewellery, wire, bridges in dentistry, catalytic converters 
in cars, crucibles for glass melting

79 Au (gold) a gold medal, a gold bar, a crown, etc. Use: anti-oxidant 
thin-layer coating of many materials (good  infra-red reflector for 
satelites, electric connectors), jewellery, decoration, in dentistry

80 Hg (mercury) a barometer, a thermometer, calomel electrode, switches. 
Builds alloys with nearly every other metal, in batteries. Cheap rotating 
parabolic mirrors.

81 Tl (thallium) rat-poison (old), photo cells, glass lenses in photocopy and 
fax machines

82 Pb (lead) batteries, ammunition, radiation shields, lead glass, ballast in 
ships, scubadiving waist belts

83 Bi (bismuth) stomach disinfection, fire detection devices. replaces lead in 
many ways because of its low toxicity

85 At (astatine) for treatment of thyroid cancers as it can replace Iodine in 
the thyroid. Extremly rare on earth.

86 Rn (radon) in hydrology to examine ground water connection to streams and 
rivers

87 Fr (francium) extremly rare, not handable in solid state as it develops far 
to much heat capacity.

88 Ra (radium) self luminous paints, formerly used in watches to make 
indicators visible in the dark.

89 Ac (actinium) far to radioactive (more than Plutonium)

90 Th (thorium) on optic lenses to raise refraction index. For uranium233 
production.

91 Pa (protactinium) no application because of its rarity and radioactivity

92 U (uranium) main use as fuel in nuclear power plants.Icon could be a 
cooling tower. High density penetrators for military use.

93 Np (neptunium) to produce plutonium in breeders.

94 Pu (plutonium) batteries for spacecrafts (Cassini probe). Nuclear weapons. 

95 Am (americium) smoke detectors

96 Cm (curium) alpha-source for the alpha-source X-ray-spectrometer (ASXS) 
used for chemical analysis on various Mars mission robots.

97 Bk (berkelium) no use

98 Cf (californium) eventually as a portable neutron source. Has been used to 
produce element no, 118: ununoctium

I stop here, as the following elements have no use outside research

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