CHNOPS's definitions

Selenium

Element #34 with the symbol Se. Selenium usually comes as a smooth, black, glossy solid, like a chunk of sexy chocolate. It can also occur as a red powder, which is much more reactive than the black counterpart. Selenium has many applications in today's world, such as being a key ingredient in vitamin supplements and shampoos, solar cells, photoconductors, batteries, fertilizers, and glass production. One property unique to Selenium is that it is quite sensitive to light. This strange characteristic paved the way for the development of solar panels and other devices that utilise light/electricity. Selenium gets its name from the Greek "Selene", which means "moon". The reason for this is because at the time of its discovery, Selenium was placed directly above Tellurium on the periodic table. And Tellurium's name was derived from the Latin "Tellus", which meant "earth". It made perfect sense to name an element after a celestial body with correlation to another similarly-named element.

Selenium is also used in Manganese Electrolysis.

by CHNOPS July 9, 2020

Iodine

The 53rd element that occurs as a grey crystalline solid. It gives off a pretty, toxic, magenta-coloured vapour when heated, that should NOT be inhaled under any circumstance. It is one of two naturally-occurring halogens that crystallize at room temperature (the other being Astatine). Iodine's name comes from the Greek "Iodes", which means "violet-coloured".

Iodine occurs naturally in organic compounds in seaweed.

by CHNOPS July 8, 2020

Francium

Element #87, with the symbol Fr. Francium is the exact opposite of stable, decaying in a matter of nanoseconds. Its most stable isotope, Francium-223, decays in only 22 minutes. It is extremely radioactive, and has no uses besides being a space-filler on the periodic table. One could say that it could be used as a weapon, but the fact that only 30 grams of the stuff can exist on Earth at a time would rule out that suggestion. Single Francium atoms are also fiendishly difficult to synthesize. These factors effectively make Francium forever useless and obsolete. Francium was named after France, where it was discovered in Paris.

Francium has the lifespan of an antivaxxer's child.

by CHNOPS July 9, 2020

Osmium

Element #76 with the symbol Os, a.k.a. the bluest metal in the world. Although it might seem pretty, Osmium is far from being good jewelry or building material, unless you want things with unbelievably high costs. It's a relatively non-toxic substance, granted that you don't combine it with Oxygen. Its name comes from the Greek word "Osme", which means "smell", "scent", or "odor". This definition refers to the nasty volatile compound that occurs when you mix Oxygen with the latter. It's also an extremely heavy metal, weighing 5x more than Lead does.

Osmium is the heaviest, stable metal in the universe.

by CHNOPS July 8, 2020