Elemental Puzzle

[xilman]

Originally Posted by davar55

Here's an easy one:

What do these five elements, and no others,
have in common?

Hg, Kr, Np, Pu, and U.

While we're on elemental posers, why is Sm the only one with a stable isotope?

Paul

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Citrix

No to what? (No to a mathematical pattern or a chemical pattern)

Yes!


Paul

[M29]

Q: Where does mercury come from?

A: Hg Wells

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by M29

Q: Where does mercury come from?

A: Hg Wells

Boooooooooooooo! (Not to the awfully good pun, but to the fact that I hadn't heard that one yet. ;)

Trivia Q: Why is 'W' the symbol for Tungsten?

A: It's elementary, my dear Welsh-son! (In fact, it's Mathematica-l).

[M29]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Trivia Q: Why is 'W' the symbol for Tungsten?

Seriously? Wolfram.

BTW, "tungsten" is Swedish for "heavy stone".

Funny you should bring it up. I am currently having something fabricated from Rhenium. Re has a density of 21.02 g/cc whereas W is merely 19.3 g/cc.

I might be down you way in a week or so, Ernst. Are you thirsty?

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by M29

Seriously? Wolfram.

It wasn't meant to be hard, merely Mathematica-lly punny.

BTW, "tungsten" is Swedish for "heavy stone".

I knew a Swede back in college who was quite a heavy stoner. I was more into heavy metal myself.

Funny you should bring it up. I am currently having something fabricated from Rhenium. Re has a density of 21.02 g/cc whereas W is merely 19.3 g/cc.

IIRC, Osmium has them all beat, albeit only by a few percent. While we're on the topic of dense metals - I'm still waiting for that souvenir-quality depleted-Uranium paperweight you promised me, you know, the one in the shape of a mushroom. Or did you use it to take out the armor plating on your neighbor's Hummer?

I might be down you way in a week or so, Ernst. Are you thirsty?

I do believe a bout of thirst could be arranged.

[M29]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

It wasn't meant to be hard

It is difficult to machine.

Originally Posted by ewmayer

I do believe a bout of thirst could be arranged.

A bout your thirst, I'll contact you when I know my schedule.

[mfgoode]

Originally Posted by M29

It is difficult to machine.
A bout your thirst, I'll contact you when I know my schedule.

Why didn't I know you guys just 9 years ago before I retired? I was hopping around the major cities in Europe, Uk and the eastern coast U.S.

We used Tungsten carbide tips for cutting tool bits
Yeah Hg from Wells. Thats a good one

How about
KR: Kronecker - Riemann.
PU: middle name of most emnient Chinese mathematicians.
In the Far East if you don't know the correct name, PU repeated twice will get you across
Mally
P.S. The smilie 'wink' has been removed!

[cheesehead]

Hmmm ...

After a quick perusal of http://www.mercurytheatre.info/history and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Theatre I find no hint that the name of the radio program "Mercury Theatre on the Air" had any causal connection to the first two initials of the original author of the work that was adapted to become its most famous broadcast. But the coincidence is mnemonically handy.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

IIRC, Osmium has them all beat, albeit only by a few percent.

Evil stuff. Be careful if you get some to play with.

The metal itself is reasonably ok, but OsO_4 is volatile and chemically reactive. In particular, it is known to deposit Os metal on the retina. Not very good for the eyesight.

Paul

[xilman]

Davar55: please let us know what property you had in mind when you posted those elements' symbols as a puzzle.


Nobody has yet attempted my related puzzle, about why Sm is special because it is the only one with a stable isotope.


Paul