Nickel (17)

Nickel

First “white copper” they thought us across the sea

good thing they didn’t bet their tea

In the land of Germania they called us “mischievous sprite”

blinded as they were by our golden tinge of light

but no “Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!”

we’ve not goose stepped one mile

We’re never no “one ring”

you use us to buy bling

Though you may search high and low

in Russia we caused 30 miles of treeless snow

We’ll fly you to your next meal

and help you eat it with stainless steel

We’re the green in your glass

electric guitar strings en masse

Don’t call us wooden or Joe – we’re fickle

for our five cents we prefer nickel

July 1, 2012

Tressa Lee Breen

Research Notes & Tools:

Silvery white lustrous slight golden tinge

Ferromagnetic around room temperature (iron, cobalt, gadolinium)

Classified 1751 by Azel Fredrik Cronstect

In Use 3500 BC

Corrosion resistant

"White Copper" copper/nickel in China

Named after mischievous sprite of German mythology, Nickel, for besetting copper, Kupfernickel or Kupfer - Nickel alloy- cupronickel

Due to cost US remains one fo few that use metal in coins, five cent, save for exterior plating

Stainless steel, magnets, coinage rechargeable batteries, electric guitar strings, microphone capsules, green tint in glass

Willamette meteorite - iron w/ nickel

Russian nickel works/prison in Siberia, Norilsk, no trees grow w/in 30 miles, 1 of 10 most polluted cities in the world

Nickel-iron super alloys used in jet engines

Joe Nickell

Nickel on Wikipedia

The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean

Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy

Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams

The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray

Theodore Gray’s Elements Vault: Treasures Of The Periodic Table With Removable Archival Documents And Real Element Samples

Platinum Platitudes (16)

Platinum Platitudes

Rarer than an honest man attempting to ford a play to curtain’s close

No nickel and copper deal

Resistance, as it turns out, is not futile

Fit for those with monikers like scrivener Stephen

Plays around a million times

Heavier than thirty pieces

Trendier than the karat rule

Holds your preciouses still and safe

Drives ‘til there’s nothing left to inspect

Reluctant to unite doesn’t mean unwilling to bling

May 3, 2012

Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Resource Tools:

Name: Spanish, "platinade pinto", "little silver of the Pinto river"

Dense, malleable, gray-white

One of the rarest elements: 0,005mg/kg

Occurs in nickel and copper deposits as well as native

80% world production in South Africa

Resistant to corrosion, wear, tarnish

Catalytic converters, laboratory equipment, electrical contacts, electrodes, thermometers, dentistry equipment, jewelry

King Louis XV: "The only metal fit for a King"

Album, 1 million copies sold-Platinum

Heavier than silver, trendier than gold

1898, Louis Cartier started the platinum with gems trend

Crude oil to gasoline, spark plugs (last for life of car)

Reluctance to combine chemically with other elements

Wikipedia

The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean

Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy

Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams

The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray

Cobalt/Goblin Treasure, Goblin Promise (15)

Cobalt/Goblin Treasure, Goblin Promise

You drag me up with the red and the gray
~ an unexpected bonus ~
the silver tint of my stretched flesh
hints not at the sapphire hoard beneath
but my sickening breath warns
of an all consuming fire:
set me loose on the tips of your stupidity
and I'll gobble up your world

February 5, 2012
Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Resource Tools:
German: Kobold Ore "Goblin Ore"
Hard, lustrous, silver gray
Source by-product of copper + nickel mining
Color to glass, smalt ceramics inks, paints, varnishes, 
Goblin Ore-name due to blue pigment producing minerals poor in known metals & gave poisonous arsenic-containing fumes upon smelting
Essential trace element for all animals, B12
Active nutrient for bacteria, algae, fungi
Cobalt Floride - pink
Cobalt Chloride - blue
Cobalt Bromide - green
Cobalt Iodide - blue/pink
Anhydrous Dichloride - blue
Hydrate - red
Egyptian sculpture, Persian jewelry, ruins of Pompeii, China
Cobalt-Chromium-Molybdenum alloy = Vitallium, used for prosthetic parts such as hip & knee replacements
Aluminium-Nickel-Cobalt-Iron alloy = Alnico, permanent magnets
Samarium-Cobalt = permanent magnets
Alloyed w/ 95% Platinum for jewelry
Cobalt bomb-dirty bomb-whole human life time for land to recover-doomsday weapon
Cobalt can displace iron from blood plasma
Cobalt steel used for drill & milling machine bits
Pale cobalt blue glass insulators used in old telephone wires, power lines, railroad signals
Azure (bright), Cerulean (greenish), Ultramarine (dark), Glaucous (grayish), Cyan (light greenish), Periwinkle (light grayish)
Bogeyman, Brownie, Demon, Fiend, Gnome, Gremlin, Imp, Kobold, Nixie, Pixie, Spirit, Sprite
Cobalt on Wikipedia
The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean
Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray

Phosphorus/@#$% My Gardener Says (14)

Phosphorus/@#$% My Gardener Says

A German had a little tinkle

from which he hoped a golden shower would sprinkle

He was way off his mark

and instead found glow-in-the-dark

From an alchemist named Brand

to the double helix DNA strand

We now have a way to replenish the soil

that doesn’t require @#$% loads of urine to boil

July 19, 2011

Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Research Tools:
Phosphorus-Ancient Greek name for Venus-Light Carrier
Latin-Light Bearer-Lucifer-also Venus the Morning Star
Phosphorescence-glows after illumination
In DNA, RNA, ATP, cell membranes
Explosives, nerve agents, friction matches, fireworks, pesticides, tooth pastes, detergents, fertilizers
German alchemist Hennig Brand, 1669, trying to make gold, boiled down old urine, white material, glowed & burned brilliantly, Phosphorus Mirabilis- miraculous bearer of light
Ground up bones also source
Red-relatively stable-matches
Black-hard to make/rarely seen
White-toxic, explosives, kept in dark
Phosphate Rock-calcium phosphate-source 
Replenishes soil after harvest
Phosphorus on Wikipedia
The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean
Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray

Bismuth/Cowboys & Elements (13)

Bismuth/Cowboys & Elements

The darkness is movin’ in like the coils of a hungry snake

as I dust off the stars an’ survey what’s left of this here claim

We used ta be everywhere

each doin’ what our natures intended

Some of us were nasty bastards

- end a life soon as allowin’ it ta touch us -

but most found ways ta work social like

Hell, some of us even found ways ta bond

We’d amble together, tin, antimony, copper

occasionally even that crazy lead would be along

an’ we’d do our bit for progress

Once in a while they’d get on me about my silver pink hue

or how the youngins would ask for me when their gut ached

or how I was supposedly gonna live forever

Turns out they was shootin’ close ta the mark on that one

Slowly they all up an’ began ta fade

- even the most spittin’ foulest of us -

‘til they was nuthin’ but skeletons tumblin’ about

an’ then they was just nuthin’

Now I’m standin’ alone

with time cavin’ everywhere inta nowhere

an’ I’m left ta wonderin’

am I the last in an endin’

or the first in a beginin’

June 17, 2011

Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Resource Tools:
Brittle metal w/ white sliver pink hue often w/ an iridescent oxide tarnish showing many colors - from yellow to blue
Spiral stair step structure of crystal due to higher growth rate around outside edges than inside
Variations of thickness of oxide layer cause rainbow colors
Liquid phase denser than solid
About twice as abundant as gold, usually produced as by product of processing other ores
Name "white mass", confused w/ tin and lead
Known to Incas, used w/ copper and tin in knives
Pepto Bismol, Kaopectate
Peptic ulcers, eye infections, internal deodorant
Fuel carrier for nuclear reactors, glazes that produce iridescent luster finish, researching to evaluate as a non toxic replacement for lead: pigments in oil and acrylic artists paint, solders, catalyst for making acrylic fiber, bullets
One of the least toxic heavy metals
Blue flame, yellow fumes
In crackling fireworks called Dragon's Eggs
Will "live' long enough to be the final element to go extinct
Pewter: tin w/ a little antimony, bismuth, copper
Yellow pigment for car paint - faded evenly when exposed to light, returned to former brightness when light dimmed, parked under tree, finish dappled
Wikipedia
The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean
Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray

Antimony (12)

Antimony

Found by hands with no name

the Killer of Brothers could not be turned more precious

Mixed with lead to the color of light

brought about the Madness of a Monarch

Made black as the grandfather of diamonds

gave evil to the witch’s eye

The Chime can be the Herald of Death

yet administering to Emperors and Musicians became the norm

A concentrated solar experiment

became the Sun of a King

And being pressed changed the History of the Word

by giving it the ability to travel down through time intact

Yet be wary of this gray wolf

or its Star will be the last you see

July 10, 2011

Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Research Tools:
3000 BC no one has credit for 1st find
Popular etymology-French, "Monk Killer"
Soft metal, explosive, black, yellow
Commercial forms: ingots, broken pieces, granules, cast cake, powder, shot, single, crystals
No natural role in biology
Flame retardants: children's clothing, toys, aircraft/auto seat covers, light aircraft engine covers, with lead (increases hardness + mechanical strength) - lead acid batteries, small arms ammunition, buck shot, tracer ammunition, cable sheathing, tv screens
Few bio/medical uses, mostly veterinary
Elemental in pill form once used as medicine, could be reused after ingestion, popular laxative. 
Poisoning similar to arsenic: small doses - headaches, dizziness, depression: large doses - damage kidneys/liver, violent/frequent vomiting, death in few days
Nebuchadnezzar, 6 BC, King of Babylon, antimony lead paint for castle walls, went mad, at grass like an ox
Egyptian women used as mascara (witch-like powers, give the evil eye)
Newton thought it had sexual properties + was hermaphrodite 
Mozart may have died from taking too many to fight fever
Part of the strongest and gentlest acids
Alchemical symbol the symbol for female
18th century fire works - white
Lead alloyed with tin and a little antimony - "type metal" in Guttenburg's printing press, into mid 20th century
Ingredient in standard emetic administered to Napoleon
Hebrew/Arabic "Kuhl" modern Kohl for eyes
Soft setting for precious stones
"The Sage's Matter" "The Grey Wolf of the Philosophers"
"Star Antimony" - disc of crust that forms on top of cooling metal
1650, Nicolas le Febre, for 11 yr old King Louis XIV, "The Solar Calcination of Antimony" experiment, sunlight concentrated on star, showed the product of reaction weighted more than antimony he started with, inspiration for Louis's sun motif?
A metal cools, crystals inside break & slip, tapping inside, which causes pinging/chiming sound outside
Wines steeped in antimony goblets induces vomiting - used medicinally 
Wikipedia
The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean
Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray

Arsenic (11)

Arsenic

You find me in your drink

your sustenance

and under your feet

the Death of Monarchs

and the Monarch of Deaths

From an Italian Iceman

to a French Emperor

and an Ambassador from a New World

I have traveled through the body of time with you

as you have used me to remove one another

from the veins of history

You papered your walls with Emerald and Paris

where I laid like a diseased tooth under an antique lace pillow

waiting for a dank fairy to change me to a dark seed

that blooms with the subtle scent that slips into you like a thin poisoned thorn

I've taken foolish fathers and idiot sons

vain daughters who wanted to be the shade of marble in Luna's smile

four drops and Caesars lay rotting with their laurels

and young Midases come early into gold with my white touch

Yet now the venom has become the physic

and I, by little, search out the tumors

that I, by large, can cause

It appears irony is immune to me

June 30, 2011
Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Resource Tools:
Gray, yellow, black, white
Name close to Greek "masculine", "potent"
Poison of Kings, King of Poisons
Bronze Age, included in bronze to make harder
Found in food, water soil, air (seafood predominant)
Victorian Era, eaten by women to improve complexion, as well as rubbed on faces/arms for paleness
Was used in wood treatment and pesticides due to its toxicity to insects, bacteria, fungi, banned in US in 2004
Chicken food - to promote growth
Arsenic compound act as stimulants, popular mid 18th century
Was uses as treatment for syphilis and trypanasomaisis until superseded by modern antibiotics
New research - cancer tumor location
Alloying w/ copper & lead, auto batteries, semiconductor material, integrated circuits
Paris or Emerald Green pigment, bullets, brass, optical glass (all discontinued)
Some species obtain energy via arsenic reduction
Possible substitute for phosphorus in DNA
Arsenic in ground/drinking water above standard, possible link to compromising immune systems to H1N1, cancers
Death by multi-system organ failure
Chronic arsenic poisoning treatment easily accomplished but long term effects of exposure can't be predicted
Orzi, Italian glacier, 5000 yrs, chronic arsenic poisoning most likely from smelting copper ores
Renaissance Italy, Age of Arsenic
2 Borgia, father/son, accidentally drunk own wine
17th century Rome, 4 drops
Study fo poisons advanced analytical chemistry
Napoleon green pigment on wallpaper
Clare Booth Luce, 50s, US to Italy Ambassador, ceiling chips in Ambassador residence (she recovered)
Gas from mold fo wallpaper paste and pigment
"Inheritance Powder"/white arsenic
Paris green/rat poison - same 
Arsenic on Wikipedia
The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean
Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray

Zinc (10)

Zinc

In your big hunk of head pink

I am a synaptic dark horse

yet in learning I am a key link

helping to keep your nervous system in force

In super novas I am a chink

to become drops of false silver in brass

sometimes to be used by a despicable fink

to tempt pretty ass from a young lass

I’m part of the pennies into Wishing Wells you plink

a coating of me can protect you from sunburn

yet reduction of cold symptoms is done with a wink

about me you have much still to learn

I’ll galvanize batteries and make sure your pits don’t stink

perhaps even slow aging of muscles and skin

keep your hair shiny so you don’t miss out on any kink

just make sure your kin never confuse me with tin

June 19, 2011

Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Research Tools:
24th most abundant
Copper + zinc = brass
Alchemists burn zinc, "philosopher's wool" "white snow"
Corrosion resistant plating of steel
Batteries, dietary supplements, deodorants, anti dandruff shampoo, luminescent paints
Deficiency effects 2 billion, death of 800,000 per year
Bluish white, lustrous, commercial grades dull finish
Created in supernovas
Bluish green flame
"Drops of false silver" 4th century BC Greece w/ copper in reference to creating brass (weaponry, coins)
4th most common metal in use
Galvanization: coating of iron or steel to protect agains corrosion, 47% worldwide zinc used for this
Pennies - zinc coated w/ copper
Controversial: used to reduce duration/severity of cold symptoms, protect against accelerated aging of skin + muscles
Protects against sunburn/windburn
Eye, prostate, brain, muscle, bones, kidney, liver
Key role in synaptic plasticity, can also be a neurotoxin, "the brain's dark horse", may play critical role in normal functioning of brain + central nervous system
Zinc on Wikipedia

Mercury (9)

Mercury

I move as silver water with a purpose

once I am released from my vault of cinnabar

You named me after a fast god and his planet

and then dared to catch me if you can

You thought I was First

the Adam of all Matter

and like that original man

all was myth

Early on you used me to bring health and beauty

not knowing those were the very things I take

Later you accused me of deforming your children’s minds

and destroying your elders’s lungs

from inside a cocktail dagger

yet of both I am blameless

Now you flex your understanding of me properly

seeing your Peles’s sending me into the air with their eruptions

and brush geniuses coloring the towns they see red with me

April 17, 2011

Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Research Tools:
Heavy, silvery white
Hydrargyrum: hydra-watery, argyros-silver
Liquid at standard conditions for temperature/pressure, liquid at or near room temperature/pressure
In deposits mostly as cinnabar (mercuric sulfide), which is source of red pigment Vermilion - cinnabar toxic ingestion/inhalation of dust
Mercury poisoning exposure to water soluble forms, inhalation of vapor, seafood contamination. 
Was used in thermometers and paint until recently. 
Float valves, electrical switches, barometers, manometers, dental restoration, lighting.
Poor conductor heat, fair conductor electricity.
Iron flasks used traditionally to trade mercury.
Not allowed on aircraft because of risk of forming an amalgam w/ exposed aluminium parts of aircraft
China/Tibet: used to prolong life, heal fractures, maintain good health.
Egyptians/Romans: cosmetics often caused deformities
Greeks: ointments
Alchemists: mercury first matter from which all metals were formed, believed metals could be formed by varying quality/quantity of sulfer contained in mercury
Only metal which planetary name became common name
Named after Roman god known for speed/mobility
Volcanic eruptions responsible for half atmospheric emissions
Thimersol/vaccine/autism pseudo-link 
Mercury on Wikipedia

Sulfur (8)

Sulfur

With the smell of Vulcan’s forge

and the color of the sun upon me

I am found deep in the essence of life

and in the earth’s circle of flame

Although I carry the odor of burning and decay

I am in the whitest paper

the toughest rubber

the firmest cement

I may stink of death

but my strengths are in life

the growth, protection and flight thereof

March 17, 2011
Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Research Tools:
Bright yellow crystalline solid
Essential for life: in 2 amino acids: cysteine, methionine
Fertilizers, black gunpowder, matches, insecticides, brimstone
Burns w/ a blue flame
Dark red at 392F
Found near hot springs, volcanic rings, Pacific Ring of Fire, oil refining, waste water processing, cellophane, rayon, bleach paper, vulcanized rubber, cement, detergents
Eggs high in sulfer for feather formation
Hydrogen sulfer as toxic as hydrogen cyanide, more easily avoided due to smell
Sulfur on Wikipedia

Tin (7)

Tin

When the foster children of wolves first pulled me

from the embrace of another

I was mistaken for white lead

Following the trail of tree resin

I became part of capturing your memories

keeping you nourished

and shielding others from corruption

Though I have a crystalline cry

the music your souls sing through me

far outshines the screams

Keep me warm and I’ll protect you

hold your notes pure

and cradle your remembrances

until there are no more reasons to weep

March 15, 2011

Tressa Lee Breen

My Notes & Research Tools:
Obtained chiefly from cassiterite 
1st bronze (tin/copper)
Pewter (tin/copper/antimony/lead), flatware
Silvery, malleable, poor metal, highly crystalline
Not easily oxidized in air, coat others, prevent corrosion
Tin cans (tinned)=mostly steel w/ tin coat
Bar of tin is bent, crackling sound known as the tin cry can be heard due to the twinning of the crystals
Tin disease/tin pest - long cold temps can cause disintegration
"White Lead" (plumbum dandidum- early Latin)
Trading followed Amber Road (Tree Resin Trail)
Tin Lizzy - Model T Ford
Tin fluoride known as stannous fluoride better at treating gingivitis
Most tonally resonant of all metals/pipe organs 50-50 tin/lead
Tin on Wikipedia