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Group 2 | The Alkali Earth Metals | VIDEO | FuseSch

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Group 2 | The Alkali Earth Metals | VIDEO | FuseSch

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This is not on the syllabus, but is worth watching.

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Group 2 - Alkaline Earth Metals | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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14 Group 7 | The Halogens | VIDEO | FuseSch

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14 Group 7 | The Halogens | VIDEO | FuseSch

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Group 7 - The Halogens | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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Halogens and Noble Gases | VIDEO | cognito

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Halogens and Noble Gases | VIDEO | cognito

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GCSE Chemistry - Halogens and Noble Gases  #12

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World’s helium supply ‘could run out within a decade’, chemistry professor warns | The Independent

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The world's helium supply is on course to run out within a decade unless we recycle more of the inert gas, an expert has warned.

David Cole-Hamilton, emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of St Andrews, urged people not to have helium balloons at parties as the gas is needed for MRI scanners and deep sea diving.

There is no chemical way of manufacturing helium with the supplies on Earth coming from the slow radioactive alpha decay that occurs in rocks.

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Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The price of helium has surged 500 per cent in the past 15 years as researchers struggle to find more of it.

Professor Cole-Hamilton, said that world supplies of helium were due to run out in 10 years.

He said: "By having helium balloons at your birthday party you may prevent people from having an MRI scan. We are recycling it from the MRI scanners and most of it from deep sea diving, but we are not recycling from the balloons. In both of those applications it's recycled, however helium is very light so if it gets into the atmosphere it can escape.

"If we recycle I think we would be fine, but if we gradually put more balloons up in the atmosphere then the timescale will be shorter."

Professor Cole-Hamilton said that the world had about six years' worth of helium supply from a mine in Tanzania with the rest coming from the US.

Smartphones could become unaffordable if we do not recycle more of the materials in them, he added.

Professor Cole-Hamilton said that Indium, which is currently obtained from zinc ore mining, will be one of the first elements used to make smartphones that will run out at current rates of recycling.

He said: "That ore will run out in about 20 years in the rate we are using it. We will be able to [build mobile phones] but it will become much more expensive. We would have to pay more for it and probably people at the lower end of the economic activity spectrum would find each much more difficult but may they would keep their phones for longer.

"But I think that won't happen because scientists are waking up to the fact that this is a problem."

Describing what he believes needs to happen to prevents elements such as indium and helium from running out, Professor Cole-Hamilton said: "We have to first of all reduce the number of mobile phones. We exchange one million mobile phones in the UK every month.

"Secondly, we should be able to replace the battery, then we have to recycle all the elements that are in it and we have to look for replacements which are more abundant."

Asked who was responsible, he said: "The consumer and, of course, the manufacturers because they want to sell more phones so they want you to change your mobile more often. We have to have a proper process for recycling materials."

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World's helium supply 'could run out within a decade', expert warns

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The world's helium supply is on course to run out within a decade unless we recycle more of the inert gas, an expert has warned. David Cole-Hamilton, emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of St Andrews, urged people not to have helium balloons at parties as the gas is needed for MRI scanners and deep sea diving.

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15 Halogen/Halide Displacement Reactions | VIDEO | Nigel Baldwin

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15 Halogen/Halide Displacement Reactions | VIDEO | Nigel Baldwin

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Huge helium gas find in east Africa averts medical shortage | Science | The Guardian

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The discovery of a vast reserve of helium in east Africa has allayed fears of a global shortage of the precious gas crucial for the running of brain scanners, major scientific facilities, and parties that require floating balloons and squeaky voices.

According to independent analysts, the natural store of helium found in the Rift valley in Tanzania contains an estimated 54bn cubic feet of the noble gas, enough to inflate a similar number of party balloons, or to fill 1,200,000 hospital MRI scanners, researchers said.

A team from the UK and Norway uncovered the huge resource after applying expertise gleaned from oil and gas exploration to understand how helium is produced in rocks under the ground and where it accumulates.

"This is a significant find," said Jon Gluyas, professor of geo-energy at Durham University and a member of the discovery team. "There are reserves of helium gas, but they have been depleting quite quickly. The price has gone up 500% in 15 years." The steep rise has occurred despite the discovery of a huge natural gas field in Qatar that contains a small percentage of helium gas. "We have to keep finding more, it's not renewable or replaceable," he added.

The steady decline in global helium reserves concerned some doctors so much that they had called for a ban on its use in party balloons. At a British Medical Association meeting last year anaesthetist Tom Dolphin told delegates: "This invaluable, irreplaceable gas is being literally handed to children in balloons so they can be entertained for a few minutes until they get bored and let go." One Nobel laureate, the late Robert Richardson, said in 2012 that helium balloons should cost £75 each to reflect the true cost of the gas.

Helium is used in MRI scanners, nuclear research facilities, and for specific industrial tasks such as leak detection. Vast amounts are needed to keep superconducting magnets cool at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern near Geneva.

The gas is the second most abundant element in the observable universe, but Earth's initial endowment was lost to space many billions of years ago. What is available for use today is produced inside rocks through the steady radioactive decay of uranium and other elements. The hard part is finding where the gas builds up into useful reserves.

Until now natural helium supplies have been discovered by accident and only in small quantities through oil and gas drilling operations. But working with a Norwegian helium exploration company, Helium One, the UK scientists found that heat from volcanoes in the east African Rift valley released helium from ancient rocks buried deep underground. It then became trapped in shallower gas fields.

The research was presented by Durham University PhD student Diveena Danabalan at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Yokohama, Japan.

"This is a gamechanger for the future security of society's helium needs and similar finds in the future may not be far away," said Chris Ballentine, a geochemist at Oxford University who was part of the discovery team.
Topics

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Huge helium gas find in east Africa averts medical shortage

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The discovery of a vast reserve of helium in east Africa has allayed fears of a global shortage of the precious gas crucial for the running of brain scanners, major scientific facilities, and parties that require floating balloons and squeaky voices.

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10 Group 1 | The Alkali Metals | VIDEO | FuseSch

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10 Group 1 | The Alkali Metals | VIDEO | FuseSch

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Group 1 - The Alkali Metals | The Periodic Table | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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Comparing the Halogens | properties and reactions | VIDEO | OU

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Comparing the Halogens | properties and reactions | VIDEO | OU

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Comparing the four halogens - Chemical elements: properties and reactions (2/8)

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How does a halogen light bulb work? | HowStuffWorks

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Let's start with a normal electric light bulb like you see in any normal household lamp. A normal light bulb is made up of a fairly large, thin, frosted glass envelope. Inside the glass is a gas such as argon and/or nitrogen. At the center of the lamp is a tungsten filament. Electricity heats this filament up to about 4,500 degrees F (2,500 degrees Celsius). Just like any hot metal, the tungsten gets "white hot" at that heat and emits a great deal of visible light in a process called incandescence. See How Gas Lanterns Work for more information on incandescence.

A normal light bulb is not very efficient, and it only lasts about 750 to 1,000 hours in normal use. It's not very efficient because, in the process of radiating light, it also radiates a huge amount of infrared heat -- far more heat than light. Since the purpose of a light bulb is to generate light, the heat is wasted energy. It doesn't last very long because the tungsten in the filament evaporates and deposits on the glass. Eventually, a thin spot in the filament causes the filament to break, and the bulb "burns out."

A halogen lamp also uses a tungsten filament, but it is encased inside a much smaller quartz envelope. Because the envelope is so close to the filament, it would melt if it were made from glass. The gas inside the envelope is also different -- it consists of a gas from the halogen group. These gases have a very interesting property: They combine with tungsten vapor. If the temperature is high enough, the halogen gas will combine with tungsten atoms as they evaporate and redeposit them on the filament. This recycling process lets the filament last a lot longer. In addition, it is now possible to run the filament hotter, meaning you get more light per unit of energy. You still get a lot of heat, though; and because the quartz envelope is so close to the filament, it is extremely hot compared to a normal light bulb.

Related HowStuffWorks Articles

More Great Links

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Let's start with a normal electric light bulb like you see in any normal household lamp. A normal light bulb is made up of a fairly large, thin, frosted glass envelope. Inside the glass is a gas such as argon and/or nitrogen. At the center of the lamp is a tungsten filament.

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William Ramsay: Who was he and how did he change the periodic table? | The Independent

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Google is paying tribute to the life and research of Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay with a Doodle on what would have been his 167th birthday.

Born in Glasgow on 2 October 1852, Ramsay is best known for his eventual discovery of what are known as the noble gases.

Ramsay became involved in the study of chemistry from an early age, before earning his doctorate at the University of Tübingen in Germany.

After returning home, Ramsay worked in various positions at numerous colleges, before eventually taking the post of Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at University College, London, in 1887.

As chair, Ramsay continued his research on liquids and vapours, which he published in numerous papers and books.

However, when Ramsay learned that British physicist Lord Rayleigh had observed nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere had a higher atomic weight than nitrogen in the lab, his research took on a different focus.

After coming to the conclusion that a previously unknown gas existed in the atmosphere, Ramsay and Lord Rayleigh eventually announced the joint discovery of argon, a chemically inert gas.

During his research, Ramsay also discovered helium - which led to his team's subsequent identification of additional noble gases neon, krypton, and xenon.

The discovery of the noble gases was notable for both reshaping the periodic table and for their real-life usefulness. Google points out that helium was used in lighter-than-air travel, while argon was used to conserve the filaments in light bulbs.

As a result of his advancements, Ramsay was considered by many the "greatest chemical discoverer of his time".

In addition to being knighted in 1902, he was named the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904.

Sir William Ramsay died on 23 July 1916, after changing the periodic table forever.

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Who was Sir William Ramsay and how did he change the periodic table?

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Google is paying tribute to the life and research of Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay with a Doodle on what would have been his 167th birthday. Born in Glasgow on 2 October 1852, Ramsay is best known for his eventual discovery of what are known as the noble gases.

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Chemistry experiment 27 - Reaction between sodium metal and chlorine gas

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KS3:4 Science - Periodic Table- Ferocious Elements

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GCSE Chemistry Group 0 The Noble Gases (Edexcel 9-1)

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How a sodium and a chlorine atom come together and form an ionic bond.

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iron filings, calcium, sodium, magnesium

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Noble Gases - The Gases In Group 18 | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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Group 1: The Alkali Metals | VIDEO | cognito

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Group 1: The Alkali Metals | VIDEO | cognito

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GCSE Chemistry - Group 1 Alkali Metals  #11

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The Periodic Table

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Before discovering protons, neutrons and electrons, scientists tried to classify the by arranging them in order of their atomic weights. The atomic weight of an element is equivalent to what we now call its .

Early periodic tables were incomplete, since many elements were unknown. Also, some elements were placed in groups with elements that were not similar to them.

Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist. He wrote chemistry books and was looking for ways to organise the known elements. He published his first periodic table of the elements in 1869. In it, he arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic weights. He also took into account the of the elements and their . This meant that his table:

had gaps in it

showed elements with similar chemical properties lined up in groups

However, from their atomic weights, some pairs of elements next to each other were in the wrong order.

Predictions using gaps

Mendeleev left gaps in his table for elements not known at the time. By looking at the properties of the elements next to a gap, he could also predict the properties of these undiscovered elements. For example, Mendeleev predicted the existence of 'eka-silicon', which would fit into a gap below silicon. Another scientist later discovered the missing element, germanium. Its properties were found to be similar to the predicted ones and confirmed Mendeleev's periodic table.

Pair reversals

Iodine has a lower atomic weight than tellurium. So iodine should be placed before tellurium in Mendeleev's periodic table. However, iodine has similar chemical properties to chlorine and bromine. To make iodine line up with chlorine and bromine in his table, Mendeleev swapped the positions of iodine and tellurium.

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The periodic table - AQA - Revision 1 - GCSE Chemistry (Single Science) - BBC Bitesize

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Before discovering protons, neutrons and electrons, scientists tried to classify the by arranging them in order of their atomic weights. The atomic weight of an element is equivalent to what we now call its . Early periodic tables were incomplete, since many elements were unknown.

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Groups in the Periodic Table

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Radon is situated below xenon in group 0. Predict the likely boiling point of radon.

The actual boiling point of radon is -61.7˚C. An estimate would lie midway between -100˚C and -50˚C based on the shape of the graph.

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Groups in the periodic table - AQA - Revision 1 - GCSE Chemistry (Single Science) - BBC Bitesize

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Radon is situated below xenon in group 0. Predict the likely boiling point of radon. The actual boiling point of radon is -61.7˚C. An estimate would lie midway between -100˚C and -50˚C based on the shape of the graph.

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Transistion Metals

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Physical properties of transition elements - Transition metals - AQA - GCSE Chemistry (Single Science) Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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Learn about and revise transition metals with this BBC Bitesize GCSE Chemistry (AQA) study guide.

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Sample Exam Questions on Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table

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Sample exam questions - Atomic structure and the periodic table - AQA - Revision 1 - GCSE Chemistry (Single Science) - BBC Bitesize

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Get ready for your exams with this BBC Bitesize GCSE Chemistry atomic structure and periodic table (AQA) exam preparation guide.

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The Periodic Table

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Before discovering protons, neutrons and electrons, scientists tried to classify the by arranging them in order of their atomic weights. The atomic weight of an element is equivalent to what we now call its .

Early periodic tables were incomplete, since many elements were unknown. Also, some elements were placed in groups with elements that were not similar to them.

Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist. He wrote chemistry books and was looking for ways to organise the known elements. He published his first periodic table of the elements in 1869. In it, he arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic weights. He also took into account the of the elements and their . This meant that his table:

had gaps in it

showed elements with similar chemical properties lined up in groups

However, from their atomic weights, some pairs of elements next to each other were in the wrong order.

Predictions using gaps

Mendeleev left gaps in his table for elements not known at the time. By looking at the properties of the elements next to a gap, he could also predict the properties of these undiscovered elements. For example, Mendeleev predicted the existence of 'eka-silicon', which would fit into a gap below silicon. Another scientist later discovered the missing element, germanium. Its properties were found to be similar to the predicted ones and confirmed Mendeleev's periodic table.

Pair reversals

Iodine has a lower atomic weight than tellurium. So iodine should be placed before tellurium in Mendeleev's periodic table. However, iodine has similar chemical properties to chlorine and bromine. To make iodine line up with chlorine and bromine in his table, Mendeleev swapped the positions of iodine and tellurium.

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The periodic table - AQA - Revision 1 - GCSE Combined Science - BBC Bitesize

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Before discovering protons, neutrons and electrons, scientists tried to classify the by arranging them in order of their atomic weights. The atomic weight of an element is equivalent to what we now call its . Early periodic tables were incomplete, since many elements were unknown.

# data[].attributes.body
Groups in the Periodic Table

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Radon is situated below xenon in group 0. Predict the likely boiling point of radon.

The actual boiling point of radon is -61.7˚C. An estimate would lie midway between -100˚C and -50˚C based on the shape of the graph.

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Group 0 - physical properties - Groups in the periodic table - AQA - GCSE Combined Science Revision - AQA Trilogy - BBC Bitesize

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Radon is situated below xenon in group 0. Predict the likely boiling point of radon. The actual boiling point of radon is -61.7˚C. An estimate would lie midway between -100˚C and -50˚C based on the shape of the graph.

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Sample Exam Questions on Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table

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1. 1

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4

5. 5

6. 6

7. 7

8. Page 1of 7

Multiple choice questions appear throughout both exam papers, and at both foundation tier and higher tier. Multiple choice questions are usually asked as questions, often starting with 'what is...' or 'why...'.

You have three or four options to choose from in a multiple choice question. You must choose the number of options asked for in the question by placing ticks in boxes. Most multiple choice questions require just one tick, but a few ask for two ticks. You will not get a mark if you leave all the boxes blank, or if you put a tick in more than the required number of boxes.

Multiple choice questions often have two answers that could, at first glance, be correct. It is important to check all the answers before deciding which box to tick. It is also important to check that your chosen statement answers the question - some questions might include an option that is a correct statement, but that does not answer the question.
These questions have been written by Bitesize consultants as suggestions to the types of questions that may appear in an exam paper.

Sample question 1 - Foundation

Question

Which two substances are mixtures? Tick two boxes. [2 marks]

Sample question 2 - Foundation

Question

The electronic structures of the atoms of five elements are shown below:

Which element is a metal in the same group of the periodic table as element A ? [1 mark]

E

Sample question 3 - Higher

Question

The table below shows the boiling points of some elements in group 7 of the periodic table.

Element

Boiling point

Fluorine

-188°C

Chlorine

-35°C

Bromine

59°C

Iodine

184°C

Why does iodine have a higher boiling point than chlorine? Tick one box. [1 mark]

D

The forces between iodine molecules are stronger

✔

Sample question 4 - Higher

Question

The chemical symbol for an aluminium ion is .

How many protons, neutrons and electrons are in one ion? Tick one box. [1 mark]

Number of protons

Number of neutrons

Number of electrons

Number of protons

Number of neutrons

Number of electrons

A

13

14

10

✔

C

13

14

16

1. 1

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4

5. 5

6. 6

7. 7

8. Page 1of 7

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Sample exam questions - Atomic structure and the periodic table - AQA - Revision 1 - GCSE Combined Science - BBC Bitesize

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Page 1of 7 Multiple choice questions appear throughout both exam papers, and at both foundation tier and higher tier. Multiple choice questions are usually asked as questions, often starting with 'what is...' or 'why...'. You have three or four options to choose from in a multiple choice question.

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The Modern Periodic Table | VIDEO | cognito

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The Modern Periodic Table | VIDEO | cognito

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GCSE Chemistry - Modern Periodic Table  #9

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GCSE Chemistry - Metals and Non-Metals  #10

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16 Reacting Fluorine with Caesium | VIDEO | RI

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16 Reacting Fluorine with Caesium | VIDEO | RI

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Reacting Fluorine with Caesium - First Time on Camera

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18 What Makes an Element Reactive? | VIDEO | PBS

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18 What Makes an Element Reactive? | VIDEO | PBS

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What Makes an Element Reactive? | PBS LearningMedia

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In this video excerpt from NOVA: "Hunting the Elements," New York Times technology columnist David Pogue examines how atomic structure determines reactivity. Meet Theo Gray, chemist and author, who helps David explore how the electron configuration of an atom affects its ability to combine with other atoms. Discover why noble gases are not reactive and why halogens and alkali metals are highly reactive.

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Alkali Metals in Water | VIDEO | Science Revision Channel

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Alkali Metals in Water | VIDEO | Science Revision Channel

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What is the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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What is the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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What is the Periodic Table? | Chemistry | the virtual school

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How the Elements are laid out in the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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How the Elements are laid out in the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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How the elements are laid out in the periodic table | Chemistry for All | The Fuse School

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Periods and Groups in the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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Periods and Groups in the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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Periods & Groups In The Periodic Table | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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What are Periods and Groups in the Periodic Table? | VIDEO | FuseSCH

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What are Periods and Groups in the Periodic Table? | VIDEO | FuseSCH

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What Are Periods & Groups In The Periodic Table? | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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8 Mendeleev and the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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8 Mendeleev and the Periodic Table | VIDEO | FuseSch

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Mendeleev and the Periodic Table | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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How Does the Periodic Table Work? | VIDEO | FuseSch

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How Does the Periodic Table Work? | VIDEO | FuseSch

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How Does The Periodic Table Work | Properties of Matter | Chemistry | FuseSchool

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9 Watch the Alkali Metals Reacting with Water

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9 Watch the Alkali Metals Reacting with Water

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Alkali metals in water - Chemical elements: properties and reactions (1/8)