Even before I understood the term metal, I had been introduced to Chromium, the 24th element in the periodic table. Polishing the Chromium bumper on my Dad's car is one of my early childhood memories, and very shiny it was too. It was much later when I learned that Chromium was used for this decorative purpose on cars because one of its properties is that it can be polished to give a very shiny appearance.
Our car was black, just like this one, with chrome plated bumpers, front grill, hubcaps, etc.
At number 24, Chromium has 24 electrons. It is known as Cr for short. Although most Chromium is extracted from minerals, there are some places in the world where it can be mined as Chromium metal.
Its name, Chromium, comes from the Greek word Chroma which means colour. It was given this name because Chromium combines with many different elements to give different coloured compounds. Over the years many of these Chromium compounds have been used to give paints their colours. Chromium compounds are not used so much for paint any more as people are worried about the effect these compounds have on our bodies.
My birthstone - the emerald, gets its green colour from the presence of Chromium atoms in it.
Rubies also get their red colour from the presence of Chromium atoms
Another use for Chromium is in the manufacture of stainless steel. On its own iron reacts with the oxygen in the atmosphere to form rusts. This means that untreated iron is not that useful. However if iron is mixed with Chromium the resulting alloy is stainless steel. This type of steel is enormously useful.
This week's challenge
Look around your house and see if you can find 10 places where you are using stainless steel. You can list them below or upload photos of them - maybe even your photo frame is made from stainless steel.....
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