Elements of the periodic table

This post was a lot to take on. 118 elements…how could I possibly do it? Well during my year of being off the grid with this blog I had many hours to reflect and deliver this list. But 

I’m genuinely so powerful for doing this and am amazed by my mind. It’s also a conversation that I love to have (asking people what their fav element is) so if you have strong thoughts on your fav leave it in the comments!!

1. mercury - It has been my favourite forever because I did an iconic project on it in grade 9. It’s literally so epic; It’s the only metal that’s liquid at room temperature, Hg is just such a good symbol, and its named after the planet mercury which is important because I’ve decided that I love space.

2. caesium - Its my dad's favourite and he really sold it as a good element so its at the top of my list. Its main appeal is that it's the most reactive metal. 

3. titanium - My ear piercings get infected really easily (they’re actually all infected right now) and I can only wear titanium so by default I’m a big titanium fan.

4. aluminium - Its the 13th element and 13 is my favourite number. It’s also fun to say it when you pronounce the second ‘i’.

5. scandium - it’s my initials and I’m slightly self obsessed 

6. tungsten- W being the symbol for it is insane to me but I love it. It’s also used in lightbulbs and I love overhead lighting (no one will ever be able to convince me that ambient lighting is better - I need to be able to see clearly)

7. silver - I’m a passionate silver jewelry wearer, not gold. 

8. potassium - I really like avocado (but also minus points because I don’t like banana). Also k is a fire symbol.

9. carbon - Carbon is basic but its basic for a reason. Carbon bikes, graphite, diamonds - all amazing items. Also organic chemistry was my favourite unit of grade 12 chem.

10. iron - I’m slightly iron deficient so I lust over iron and what my life could be like with it more present. I also did my grade 5 science fair project on iron content in cereals and I made it to regionals so it has some nostalgia points

11. cobalt - I love the colour cobalt blue. But fun fact the element cobalt isn't even blue, its silver 

12. chromium - It makes like every colour when combined with other elements and the hardest metal. And I like the way it sounds

13. neon - I’m a slight hater of neon colours but the element itself is chill. And it’s found in stars.

14. calcium - Yogurt is genuinely my favourite thing ever - like I talk about eating it every day. If the options were to never eat yogurt again or only ever eat yogurt I would choose only yogurt. BUT I’m not a fan of other foods high in calcium and I hate the word calcium. You will never catch me saying calcium out loud. So, unfortunately for yogurt, this is the highest calcium can be.

15. fluorine - I like fluoride because I love teeth and dentistry

16. plutonium - I love Pluto and think it deserves to be a planet

17. dubnium - it’s a stupid name but also kind of awesome and reminds me of dubstep

18. xenon - its just cool. 

19. platinum - it’s a good vibe and I like platinum blond

20. antimony - another one that just speaks to me and the symbol being sb is so unexpected.

21. bismuth - also speaks to me. I love a word ending in -uth 

22. chlorine- takes me back to my days being on my high school swim team when I almost drowned doing 50 fly (I don’t know how to do butterfly and had only ever gone 25m before) for the first time at the swim meet. It was dark in the moment but I look back on it now with only positive feelings. Also minus points because it makes my skin dry BUT it reminds me of Karina (because she swims) so I like that.

23. lead - I like to draw and it makes me think of pencils

24. sodium - salt is awesome because it enhances the flavour of all foods and I use it to dry out the moisture of my cucumbers and zucchini noodles (I just got a spiralizer so this is very important to me currently)

25. silicone - it wasn’t originally one of my favs but our frosh leading group was group 14 aka the atomic number for silicon so we became the BBL bunch . The BBL bunch was an amazing squad and actually so fun and cute

26. lithium - more like LIThium

27. radon - more like RADon

28. zinc - it’s used in some necessary products in my life: sunscreen, paint, and batteries. It also reminds me of an episode of Phineas and Ferb

29. osmium - it reminds me of osmosis and cafe Osmo - two very good things

30. manganese - it just rolls off my going every nicely (also Clementine says it sounds like a type of cat)

31. oxygen- I like plants and I like to breathe

32. iodine - 4/6 of the letters in this word are vowels - that’s boss

33. magnesium - magnesium supplements are really good for you says Karina

34. copper - I always thought it was cool that buildings like the parliament and the Statue of Liberty didn’t used to be green but because they’re made from copper, eventually they oxidized and changed colour 

35. seaborgium - It is a cool word and reminds me of when I was nicknamed “sioborg” because borgs were all the rage and I’m a muse.

36. argon - I was with Sam while making this list and this is her favourite element. She describes it as “unbothered” and I’m into that 

37. helium - it makes balloons rise and reminds me of Up aka the best Pixar movie

38. hydrogen - its the first element so its a crime to rank it too low. I also feel like I like hydrogen bonds

39. neptunium - Neptune is not one of my fav planets but I still have to acknowledge the fact that’s its named after a planet which I always like (because space)

40. uranium - same goes for Uranus but I like Neptune more

41. curium - Marie Curie is my girl

42. bohrium - I love doing Bohr Rutherford diagrams 

43. rutherfordium - same reasoning but Bohr is better than Rutherford 

44. arsenic - described by Sam as “the cool girl outside of the club”

45. tin - I like tin cans and the tin man is my favourite character in the Wizard of Oz

46. moscovium - takes me back to my Russian music days

47. gallium - it’s old money

48. tantalum - it tantalizes me

49. nickel - it’s nice and hearty

50. meitnerium - I always read this as me neither and then I laugh

51. astatine - I just like it (same for all the following ones)

52. palladium

53. niobium

54. technetium

55. praseodymium

56. dysprosium

57. thulium

58. flerovium 

59. molybdenum

60. zirconium 

61. francium

62. rubidium

63. yttrium

64. ytterbium

65. polonium

66. lutetium

67. cadmium

68. neodymium

69. selenium

70. nihonium 

71. vanadium

72. gadolinium

73. radium - it’s a little boring for my taste but it also makes me think of radiating good vibes 

74. europium - manifesting a euro summer and watching the Tour de France irl

75. indium - I love Indian food

76. germanium - makes me think of geraniums 

77. nitrogen - liquid nitrogen is cool and they make ice cream with it

78. tellurium - irrelevant (same for all the following ones)

79. roentgenium 

80. protactinium

81. lanthanum

82. beryllium 

83. rhenium

84. darmstadtium

85. promethium 

86. samarium

87. erbium

88. fermium

89. copernicium

90. rhodium

91. actinium

92. holmium

93. thallium 

94. terbium

95. ruthenium 

96. thorium 

97. californium - I don’t like it when elements are named after a place and you can tell

98. berkelium - same 

99. livermorium - same (also who decided this was a good element name like what)

100. americium - same

101. tennessine - same but the most stupid sounding

102. oganessian - stupid name. Also I don’t like any of the synthetic elements because they only exist for like one second so why should I even care. And because this is the last element on the table it makes me think about that the most.

103. mendelevium - I don’t love elements named after people but Mendeleev is a good name

104. lawrencium - named after a person

105. nobelium - same

106. einsteinium - named after a person and too obvious

107. hassium - it’s too much of a hassle 

108. phosphorus - definitely is the worst of the early elements 

109. gold - could be a controversial  take but gold is way overrated 

110. barium - it gives medieval peasant vibes 

111. hafnium - reminds me of short people 

112. strontium - it’s weirdly sexual

113. cerium - cerium is like cereal and then you think about little bits getting caught in your teeth so cerium is like dirty teeth

114. iridium - makes me irritable 

115. boron - it’s boring and gross vibes

116. krypton - superman is probably the worst super hero (he’s just too powerful which makes him uninteresting) and this just reminds me of him

117. sulphur - the sent of sulphur impacts my life negatively (more than radioactive elements) too often 

118. bromine - this element is my enemy because it’s the only other element besides mercury that’s liquid at room temperature. I’m just like get your own thing and stop stealing my girl mercury’s shtick. Also the word bromine sucks. Major loser element alert.

BONUS - the elements of nature

1. Air

2. Water

3. Fire

4. Earth