Elemental
Channel Details
Elemental
To celebrate 150 years of the periodic table, get to know the back story of every element with our intrepid scientific hosts.
Recent Episodes
98 episodes
Zirconium - shape-shifting time capsule
Zirconium is a shape-shifting tough cookie, that is a tale of gemstones, medical implants and nuclear reactors, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 98...
Zinc - more useful than you realise
Zinc is a very useful metal that turns up in everything from sunscreen to paint, & galvanised metals to cereals, as well as brass instruments, says Pr...
Yttrium - here's that village Ytterby again
Yttrium is yet another element named after the village of Ytterby and is important in the development of high temperature superconductors, says Allan...
Ytterbium - yet another element named after Ytterby
Ytterbium is yet another lanthanoid named after the Swedish village of Ytterby, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 95 of Elemental.
Ytterbium is yet...
Xenon - a stranger in search of strange particles
Xenon is a noble gas that turns up in various lights, gets used in xenon ion propulsion systems for spacecraft & plays a key role in the search for da...
Vanadium - Model T Fords, big batteries & sea squirts
Vanadium makes steel stronger & lighter, is being used in what will be the world's largest battery, and sea squirts are full of it, says Prof Allan Bl...
Uranium - first radioactive element to be discovered
Named after the planet Uranus & associated with Hiroshima & nuclear bombs, uranium is the highest-numbered element found naturally in significant quan...
Tungsten - highest melting point of any metal
Tungsten's very high melting point made it an ideal filament for incandescent light bulbs, & as it is in some enzymes it is the heaviest element used...
Titanium - light, strong & quite pretty
Titanium is light, strong, corrosion resistant & is used to repair broken limbs as it is able to get integrated into the bone, says Allan Blackman fro...
Tin - from whistles to organ pipes & anti-fouling paint
The element tin turns up in all sorts of alloys, but tin cans are - mostly - not made from tin, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT, in ep 89 of Element...
Thulium - the most laborious of the lanthanoids
Isolating the element thulium was a truly laborious process that took many years, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 88 of Elemental.
Isola...
Thorium - potential source of cleaner nuclear energy
Named after Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, thorium could provide a cleaner source of nuclear power in the future, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT i...
Thallium - the poisoner's poison
Thallium is most famous for some infamous poisoned family cases & its appearance in an Agatha Christie novel solved a medical mystery, says Allan Blac...
Terbium - turns up in old TVs & new Euro notes
A discovery from the chemically prolific Swedish village of Ytterby, terbium produced the green on old TV sets & adds security to Euro notes, says Pro...
Tellurium - usually associated with gold
Tellurium is a metalloid often found with gold and the US town Telluride is named after it, says Prof Allan Blackman, in ep 84 of Elemental.
Tel...
Technetium - the first synthetic element
Technetium was the first element on the periodic table to be synthesised. It is rare, radioactive and has only a few uses, says Prof Allan Blackman in...
Tantalum - a tantalising chemical element
The metal tantalum is usually found with the element niobium, has a very high melting point but is a 'conflict mineral', says Prof Allan Blackman in e...
Sulfur - king of bad smells
Sulfur is responsible for some very bad smells, is the number one industrial chemical and is also an essential element, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep...
Strontium - from sensitive teeth toothpaste to nuclear fission
Named after a Scottish town, strontium can be highly radioactive & glow-in-the-dark, but also used in toothpaste, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT, i...
Sodium - a salt of the earth spectator
Sodium is vital for life & usually found in combinaton with other more interesting elements, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 79 of Elemental.
Wou...
Silver - a popular noble metal
Silver is widely used in jewellery, has interesting light sensitive abilities and has antimicrobial properties, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in e...
Silicon - a ubiquitous part of modern life
Silicon is a blockbuster metalloid with many uses, from glass to computer chips & bathroom sealants, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 77 of Ele...
Selenium - good reason to eat seafood & Brazil nuts
New Zealand soils lack the vital element selenium, which also used to be important in photocopiers and bathroom plumbing, says Prof Allan Blackman fro...
Scandium - the scandal of the scandium cricket bat
Predicted by Mendeleev & useful for alloying with aluminium, scandium was involved in a famous cricket scandal, says AUT's Allan Blackman in ep 75 of...
Samarium - magnets for making & listening to music
Samarium magnets are used in headphones & guitar pickups, and samarium was the first element named after a real person, says Prof Allan Blackman from...
Ruthenium - a 'sort of' precious metal
Ruthenium is a 'sort of' precious metal that is a useful catalyst and alloy. It is toxic and smells like ozone, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 73...
Rubidium - expensive and not very useful
Rubidium is a reactive metal with few uses, named 'deepest red' due to its beautiful red spectral lines, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 72 of Elem...
Rhodium - used in cars, drugs... and aftershave
Rhodium is an expensive precious metal that is used in catalytic convertors, to make the Parkinson's drug L-DOPA, create shiny jewellery and add the m...
Rhenium - has a number of claims to chemical fame
Named after the Rhine river, rhenium is a metal with very high boiling and melting points, and it was the last naturally occuring, non-radioactive ele...
Radon - radioactive basement risk
The radioactive gas radon can be a risk in the basements of stone houses and used to, erroneously, be touted for its health benefits, says Prof Allan...
Radium - famous but not very useful
Radium was famously found by the Curies, and was once widely used in face creams, drinks and luminous watch dials, despite being highly radioactive, s...
Protactinium - a very dull chemical element
Protactinium is a rare, radioactive element that has no uses and may be the most boring element, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 67 of Element...
Promethium - rare and unremarkable
Despite its gruesome mythical name, the radioactive element promethium has no particular claim to fame, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 66 of...
Praseodymium - a long name but not many uses
Praseodymium is a metal wirh the second longest name on the periodic table and not many uses, says Prof Alan Blackman from AUT in ep 65 of Elemental.<...
Potassium - a matter of life and death
From levitating burnt buttocks, to excitable nerves and sure-to-rise baking, potassium is highly reactive and vital to life, says Prof Allan Blackman...
Polonium - few redeeming features
Polonium will be forever linked with the names Curie and Litvinenko and has negligible desirable features, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 63 of Elemen...
Plutonium - nuclear bombs & nuclear power
A radioactive heavyweight associated with nuclear bombs & power, which is powering the Voyager spacecraft, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 62...
Platinum - another pricey precious metal
Platinum is useful in catalytic convertors, is used to treat testicular cancer and will be useful in hydrogen fuel cells, says Prof Allan Blackman fro...
Phosphorus - P was discovered in pee
Phosphorus, chemical symbol P, was first isolated as an element from thousands of litres of urine. Also found in guano, aka bird poo. Allan Blackman f...
Palladium - cleaning up your car's exhaust
Palladium is a pricey precious metal most commonly used in catalytic convertors on car exhausts, says AUT's Allan Blackman in ep 59 of Elemental.