Iridium

77

Iridella

The name iridium is derived from the greek word Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, because iridium-compounds are very colourful. It is supposed to be the most corrosion-resistant element. It is used in many appliances, where persistence is important, for example in pen tips.

Technetium

43

Technicus

Technetium is the smallest radioactive element and thus a great exception among its neighbouring elements. It was the first artificially made element leading to its name: the Greek word technētós means "artificial".

Technicus the monster looks like put together from various spare parts. It wants to belong to the "good guys". But because of its radioactivity the other monsters avoid it.

Barium

56

Barry

The name barium is derived from the Greek word barys, meaning "heavy", because of the density of its mieral baryte. It has only a few special technical applications. Barium is essential only for a particular species of green algae.

Europium

63

Europa

This metal belongs to the rare earth elements as well as to the group of lanthanides. Named after the continent it can be found on Euro banknotes. Its fluorescent properties are used to make them forgery-proof.

Palladium

46

Pallas

The nobel metal palladium was named after the asteroid Pallas, which was discovered in the same time period as the element. The asteroid in return was named after Pallas Athena, an alternate name for the Greek goddess Athena. She is the goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft as well as name patron of the city of Athens.

Niobium

41

Niobe

Niobium was named after Niobe the daughter of Tantalos, who is namesake of tantalum – the element right below niobium in the periodic table. It is commonly used as an addition to stainless steel alloys.

Zirconium

40

Zirco

The name zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon (ZrSiO4). The word is derived from the persischen wort zargun for „gold-like“. It is used for example in nuclear power plants as a casing for the fuel rods, or to produce bright sparks in flashbulbs and fireworks.

Yttrium

39

Yttri

Yttrium is always grouped with other rare earth elements. It was discovered in the small place of Ytterby in Sweden, which it is named after.

Yttri the monster is the smallest of the Ytterbie family.

Bismuth

83

Bis

Bismuth is the heaviest (almost) stable element –with only a very small radioactivity. It has the highest diamagnetic property, which means that it gets repelled by magnets.

There are several possible explanation for its name.

Bis the monster likes to hang out with Mang Gang. Together they take care of the „heavy work“.

Antimony

51

Stibia

Antimony was recognized in predynastic Egypt as an eye cosmetic (kohl), in modern times it was being used to harden lead for typing letters and more recently in semiconductor electronics. Alchemist called it „lupus metallorum“ – the wolf of metals. The abbreviation Sb is derived from the latin word Stibium.

Stibia is a cunning monster who likes to plot schemes and play others off against each other. Whoever gets bewitched by her charm, can fall for her easily.

ELEMONSTERS