Is one of these supposed to be sulfur (which is missing)?
My response was indeed sulfur. Amazed to see myself in a podium position for now, as I was actually happier about my answers for the last TD, where I finished last. I suspect I have a sheep or two coming up, though, so this likely won't last.
7. Certain elements of like properties have been grouped together to form categories. Some of these categories are rows on the Periodic Table, some are columns and a few are neither. Name one of these categories. None of the names denote position of row or column. For purposes of this question, I will use those categories shown on the Wikipedia page on the chemical elements.
Whew! A wordy question results form trying to make myself clear, and I still managed to confuse a few people. This was also the question with the fewest correct answers, though I did y'all a favor by spoiling one of them later on.
Incorrect Answers - 12
Noble Metal - boson
Poor Metal - goforthetie
IgNobel gases - tagNV
* Although "Rare Earth" is not among the categories shown on the Wikipedia Periodic Table, it is an offical category defined by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) so it's good enough for me. (Take that, Wikipedians!) Since it is not precisely synonymous with lanthanides (it includes Yttrium and Scandium along with the lanthanides) I considered it a separate category. You can imagine the head slap that resulted when I realized how I could have avoided my dilemma of spoiling an answer on Q9 while at the same time excluding rare earths from the list of acceptable answers. Oh, well!
8. Name an element with an atomic number below that of Uranium (At. No. 92) that has no stable isotopes (i.e., all of its isotopes are radioactive). The second of the elemetal properties questions proved to be the most challenging, judging from the number of drops. I'd have thought that Marie Curie/radioactivity/Radium/Francium/Polonium would be nearly Pavlovian, but evidently not... or maybe everyone else was thinking the same thing? Lots of singletons for the savvy, though.
9. Name one of the Lanthanide elements. We now have a new name atop the leaderboard. Can gamawire hold on to her slim lead? The second of the Periodic Table organization questions required some rather specific knowledge, but in my defense I'd spoiled you for one answer on this question, too, and there were 15 possible responses, so a slightly educated guess stood about at 20% chance of success. One of the sheep was predictable, but the other??? And, again, lots more singletons.
Woof wrote:7. Certain elements of like properties have been grouped together to form categories. Some of these categories are rows on the Periodic Table, some are columns and a few are neither. Name one of these categories. None of the names denote position of row or column. For purposes of this question, I will use those categories shown on the Wikipedia page on the chemical elements.
Unused Answers
Post-Transition Metals
Incorrect Answers - 12
Poor Metal - goforthetie
"Poor metal" doesn't appear as a category on the "Chemical elements" wiki page, so you're within your rights to neg me, but the following URL does work, linking to a sub-category of post-transition metals. Any mercy?
Saurium (Ce? Sm? Sorry, but not close enough) - immaf
Yeah, I was thinking of Samarium (which would have been a singleton) except in my brain it's "the one with the name that reminds me of dinosaurs" (I don't know why). Thus -- Saurium, and an extra 10 points.
Woof wrote:7. Certain elements of like properties have been grouped together to form categories. Some of these categories are rows on the Periodic Table, some are columns and a few are neither. Name one of these categories. None of the names denote position of row or column. For purposes of this question, I will use those categories shown on the Wikipedia page on the chemical elements.
Whew! A wordy question results form trying to make myself clear, and I still managed to confuse a few people. This was also the question with the fewest correct answers, though I did y'all a favor by spoiling one of them later on.
Incorrect Answers - 12
Noble Metal - boson
I guess I got too cute here. "Noble Metal" is certainly a group of elements together on the periodic table - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_metal - but perhaps not well enough defined to count. Is there any chance of an appeal to your noble (metal) nature to overturn this base (metal) ruling?
I had no idea on the radioactive question. I wanted to say Plutonium, but thought it would have a bigger number since it was named for a later discovered planet. So, keeping with that logic, I went for an element named for a planet known to the ancients. Sadly, that element does not exist.
Doug527 wrote:Yay! My singleton has vaulted me from third-to-last to fourth-to-last after 8!
Welcome to TD...
I personally consider anything other than last place a victory, because somehow even on the few like this one where I know a right answer to all the questions, and several right answers to many of them, I still manage to pick the sheep most of the time. And drop the one that would've only cost me 1 or 2 points rather than a sheep for 11.
Aaargh! I meant protactinium, not praeseodymium, for the radioactive element, thereby costing myself 9 precious points. I really hope I finish at least that far from the podium (assuming I'm not on it). --Bob