Chemical Video Blog

A Nice Poem to Lithium

Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft alkali metal with a silver-white color. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive, corroding quickly in moist air to form a black tarnish. For this reason, lithium metal is typically stored under the cover of oil.

According to theory, Lithium (mostly 7Li) was one of the few elements synthesized in the Big Bang, although its quantity has vastly decreased. The reasons for its disappearance and the processes by which new lithium is created continue to be important matters of study in astronomy. Lithium is the 33rd most abundant element on Earth, but due to its high reactivity only appears there naturally in the form of compounds. Lithium occurs in a number of pegmatitic minerals, but is also commonly obtained from brines and clays; on a commercial scale, lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.

Trace amounts of lithium are present in the oceans and in some organisms, though it serves no apparent biological function in humans. Nevertheless, the neurological effect of the lithium ion Li+ makes some lithium salts useful as a class of mood stabilizing drugs. Lithium and its compounds have several other commercial applications, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, high strength-to-weight alloys used in aircraft, and lithium batteries. Lithium also has important links to nuclear physics: the splitting of lithium atoms was the first man-made nuclear reaction, and lithium deuteride serves as the fusion fuel in staged thermonuclear weapons.

You wouldn't think, but there is a very nice poem devoted to Lithium:

Fun periodic table of chemical elements song

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a table that displays all known chemical elements in a systematic way. The elements in the periodic table are ordered by their atomic number (Z) and are arranged in periods (horizontal rows) and groups (vertical columns). The layout of the periodic table is designed to illustrate periodic trends, similarities and differences in the properties of the elements.

Source: periodic table of chemical elements

Can periodic table be fun? See by yourself: