Quiz: Easy like Sunday morning: Elemental Etymology!

1 / 10 |
On August 18th, 1868 French astronomer Pierre Janssen was in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh observing a Solar Eclipse. He noticed bright yellow lines at a wavelength of 587.49 nm in the spectrum of the chromosphere. This led to the discovery of the element that is named after Greek personification of the sun. Which element is this? 

2 / 10 |
Quite abundant in its natural yellow crystal form, this element has been known since ancient times and is called ‘gandhaka’ (the smelly) in Sanskrit. The English name can be traced back to the Porto-Indo-European word ‘Swelp’, which means ‘to burn’. What fiery element is this? 

3 / 10 |
Found as gas at room temperature, this element has a characteristic yellow-green appearance with an acrid smell. When Sir Humphry Davy confirmed it to be a new element in 1810, he named it after the Ancient Greek word for ‘pale green’. What element is this that one might have last encountered in a public swimming pool? 

4 / 10 |
One of the strongest metals found, this element resistant to corrosion and strong acids. Prussian chemist Martin Klaproth named it after the pre-Olympian gods of Greek Mythology. Named after the twelve children of the primordial parents of Sky and Earth, which element is this that is best suited for fixing fractures in the bone? 

5 / 10 |
This element is steel-grey in colour but is very lustrous, reflecting multiple colours, almost 70% of the visible spectrum. The element also formed very colourful compounds, which led to its Greek name meaning ‘colourful’. What element is this that gives a sleek look to any item coated in it? 

6 / 10 |
Naturally found in the Earth’s crust, this notoriously toxic heavy metal’s name can be traced to the Arabic word ‘al-Zarnik,’ meaning gold-coloured ointment. What element is this that led to the death of Napoleon I? 

7 / 10 |
The element Selenium was discovered by Jacob Berzelius who thought it was very similar to the element ‘Tellurium’, which is named for the Earth, ‘Terra’. So, he named it after what he believed was the Earth’s closest relative. Found in photocells and anti-dandruff shampoo, after what entity is Selenium named?

8 / 10 |
Technetium, atomic number 43, is the lightest element whose isotopes are all radioactive. Its properties were predicted by Mendeleev before it was discovered. Finally, in 1937, it was confirmed at the University of Palermo who wanted to name it ‘Panormus’. It was eventually named after the Greek word ‘Technetos’. What does it mean, a reference to its record on the periodic table? 

Answer : ‘Artificial’, as it was the first man-made element.

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9 / 10 |
Antimony is a lustrous grey metal, and its compounds have been used in medicine and cosmetics since ancient times. By itself the element is toxic, and one theory is that it killed a lot of people from a certain profession who were all involved in making it. ‘Anti-moine’, which in old French would be ‘killer of’ what group of people who did these experiments inside religious establishments? 

10 / 10 |
Holmium is a rare-earth element which has the highest magnetic permeability and hence is used for the pole pieces of the strongest static magnets. It gets its name from the Latin name of the capital city of the country where it was discovered. Which city is this, whose name still carries a part of the Latin word?