Chemical Elements Quiz

"Breadth of view is one of the essentials of our profession. The interplay of ideas and the oblique uses of knowledge are often of extraordinary interest."
          Sherlock Holmes
Here are some questions on the properties of the some of the elements.


1.  Oxygen is
A. Non-magnetic
B. Magnetic
C. Paramagnetic
D. electronegative

2. What element is harder than a diamond? (has a greater bulk modulus or resistance to compression)
A. Titanium
B. Cobalt
C. Antimony
D. Zinc (Zn)
E. Osmium

3. Placed in a pool of liquid mercury which of the following elements would sink?
A. Copper (Cu)
B. Tungsten (W)
C. Lead (Pb)
D. Iron (Fe)
E. Molybdenum ()

4. What element when ionized is a proton? In other words: its atomic weight and number are identical.
A. Barium (Ba)
B. Hydrogen (H)
C. Chlorine (Cl)
D. Helium (He)
E. Yuknanium (Yu)

5.  What element was known to Alchemists  because salts made with this element were said to taste sweet. (and even the Greeks earlier who called it glucinium (from Greek glykys, sweet) Note: All of its soluble compounds are toxic.
A. Beryllium (Be)
B. Lead (Pb)
C. Potassium (K)
D. Manganese (Mn)
E. Germanium (Ge)

6.  Emits a brilliant white light when burnt. Used in the early days of photography as flash powder.
A. Carbon (C)
B. Phlogiston (Ph)
C. Fluorine (F)
D. Magnesium (Mg)
E. Silver (Ag)

7.   This gas is the most reactive element in the periodic table as well as being the most electronegative .
A. Krypton ()
B. Hydrogen (H)
C. Chlorine (Cl)
D. Fluorine (F)
E. Xenon (Xe)

8. Which of the following is not liquid at or near room temperature:
A. Bromine (Br)
B. Selenium (Se)
C. Mercury (Hg) or quicksilver
D. Caesium (Cs)
E. Gallium (Ga)

9. Its ions (in the form of salts)are used medically to treat both depression and mania, however this light weight metal is mildly poisonous.
A. Boron (B)
B. Sodium (Na)
C. Lithium (Li)
D. Zinc (Zn)
E. Calcium ()

10.  This element has the greatest thermal conductivity of any substance known to man and as a superfluid  near  absolute zero can flow or creep up hill.
A. Neon (Ne)
B. Hydrogen (H)
C. Nitrogen (N)
D. Argon (Ar)
E. Helium (He)


Bonus question: What "element" has an atomic weight of 2 and an atomic number of zero?

 For further reading:
Periodic tables in various forms.