Group 16

O
1 pt
What is the production of carbon monoxide for iron/steel prodution?
Major industrial use of oxygen
2 pt
What is air (distillation of liquid air)?
Major source of elemental oxygen
3 pt
What is 21%?
Percentage of elemental oxygen in the atmosphere (+/- 5%)
4 pt
Who is Joseph Priestly? (However, Carl Scheele is commonly identified as the first person to prepare/isolate oxygen)
Chemist usually given the credit for discovering "dephlogisticated air"
5 pt
What is hydrogen peroxide? (Even in plastic it can't be 100% pure and must have a stabilizer present)
Substance containing oxygen that must be stored in plastic containers because it can react explosively with glass
S
1 pt
What is S_8_?
Most stable allotrope of sulfur
2 pt
What is hydrogen sulfide (H_2_S)?
Sulfur compound normally associated with the smell of "rotten eggs"
3 pt
What is the production of sulfuric acid, the vulcanization of natural rubber, or a component in gunpowder?
One of the major industrial uses of sulfur
4 pt
What is pyrite? (fool's gold)
Common name of iron sulfide
5 pt
What are amino acids cysteine and methionine?
Biological usage of sulfur that's part of the "sulfur cycle"
Se
1 pt
What is the active ingredient in dandruff shampoos? (it kills the fungus responsible for skin flaking)
Major use of selenium sulfide in commercial products
2 pt
What is a photocell or photosensor?
Major current industrial use of selenium
3 pt
What is the photoconductor in copy machines? (it was a coating on the drum of the copier)
Major industrial use of selenium in the 1970s
4 pt
What is "moon"? (Greek)
Meaning of the word selenium
5 pt
What is a garlic odor on the breath? (toxic level = 800 mcg/day)
Major symptom of selenosis
Te
1 pt
What is 1-5 ppb? (very rare - lanthanides are around 500 ppb)

Abundance of tellurium in the Earth's crust (+/- 25%)

2 pt

What is an additive to steel (stainless steel) to improve it's strength and durability?

Major current use of tellurium in industry

3 pt

What is a media layer of rewritable optical discs (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray)?

Use of tellurium oxide that takes advantage of it's sensitivity to light exposure

4 pt

What is "Earth"? (Greek)

Meaning of the word tellurium

5 pt

What is it was used in the outer shell of the first atomic bombs?

Usage of tellurium in 1945 that had important historical context

Po
1 pt

Who are Marie and Pierre Curie (1898)?

Discoverer of polonium

2 pt

What is the homeland of the discoverers?

Motivation for giving polonium it's name

3 pt

What is 29? (most of any element, and all are radioactive)

Number of polonium isotopes (+/- 10%)

4 pt

What are thermoelectric cells in satellites and Russian moon rovers?

Equipment heated by polonium isotope alpha particle emission

5 pt

What is assassination (radioactive soup)? (Alexander Litvineko)

Recent use of polonium as a murder weapon

Daily Double
Daily Topic

What is tellurium? (it's the "slime" waste that comes from copper mining)

Element in this group that comes from "slime"