Group 1

Li
1 pt
When is 1817?
Year lithium was identified (+/- 5 yrs)
2 pt
What is bipolar disorder?
Medical disorder commonly treated with modern lithium compounds
3 pt
What is the big bang?
Event believed to have produced the majority of the universe's lithium supply
4 pt
What is magnesium? (as a result of the diagonal relationship)
Element most similar to lithium on the periodic table
5 pt
What is carbon dioxide?
Substance readily absorbed by lithium hydroxide and used in submarines and spacecraft
Na
1 pt
What is the Downs process? (or what is electrolysis?)
Process used to obtain sodium from rock salt
2 pt
Who is Berzelius?
Chemist who named sodium
3 pt
What are streetlamps (sodium vapor lamps)?
Common use of sodium vapor due to it's strong yellow emission lines
4 pt
What is ammonia?
Solvent used to isolate electrons from sodium (producing a strong blue color)
5 pt
What is benzophenone?
Organic compound used in conjunction with sodium to distill organic solvents (e.g., remove all water and oxygen)
K
1 pt
What is potash (KOH)?
Naturally occurring salt that gives potassium it's name
2 pt
Who is Sir Humphrey Davy?
Chemist responsible for isolating many of the alkali metals (including potassium)
3 pt
What is radiodating (radioactive K-40 decays to Ar-40, half life 1.2 bn yrs)?
Common application of potassium in conjunction with argon atoms
4 pt
What is sodium?
Ion associated with potassium in living organisms in creating membrane potentials
5 pt
What is stopping the human heart (capital punishment, lethal injection)?
Previously typical use for KCl that has been recently banned in many states
Rb
1 pt
What is deep red (latin "rubidus")?
Meaning of the latin root for rubidium
2 pt
What is act as a biomarker (replacing potassium) or inducing DNA uptake in cells?
Biological use for rubidium chloride
3 pt
Who are Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchoff?
Joint discovers of rubidium and cesium
4 pt
What is a tracer element for detecting brain tumors?
Medical application of rubidium due to its mild radioactivity
5 pt
What is laser cooling?
Technique that uses rubidium-based materials to reach a very low 0.0000005 K
Cs / Fr
1 pt
What is "sky blue" (latin "caesius")?
Meaning of the latin root for cesium
2 pt
What are atomic clocks?
Well-known, regular, repeated use for excited cesium atoms
3 pt
What are photocells (produce electric current from irradiation) or "night vision" glasses?
Application of cesium that takes advantage of it's very low ionization potential
4 pt
What is 30 g?
Total amount of francium believed to be on the Earth's surface (+/- 5%)
5 pt
157 K
Temperature at which ice must be below in order for metallic cesium to not (violently) react with it (+/- 10 deg)
Daily Double
Daily Topic
What is the ability to taste salty things?
Special development in herbivores and omnivores due to their high biological need for sodium and its relative scarcity in most areas