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Arsenic

We can recall the beauty of the ladies of Victorian era. What an elegance and illusion! During those times, there was a concept of being ‘an ideal woman’ in the society. Hence, women made all the possible efforts they can to be a part of a larger competition. For this, an old element Arsenic was very useful. They consumed a mixture of Arsenic, vinegar and chalk to lighten their complexions. Also for many centuries, Arsenic was known as the ‘King of Poisons’. Arsenic is symbolised as As and has an atomic number 33. It is well recognised as a yellow orpiment and is derived from the Latin word ‘arsenicum’ and Greek word ‘arsenikon’ that refers to the yellow orpiment. This yellow orpiment was the most common source of Arsenic for the alchemists and is now well known as Arsenic sulphide. The element occurs as a pure elemental crystal and also occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulphur and metals. It is about 1.8 mg/kg (parts per million) abundant in the earth’s crust.
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Argon

We all have been fascinated by the sparkling, incandescent and fluorescent lights at the streets, during festivals and at the time of celebrations. The beauty is not only due to the bulbs and tubes that lit it but also in the element that makes it unique and attractive. It is strange that such elements have been very important in our day–to–day lives and influence us indirectly. One such significant element is Argon. The name ‘argon’ itself suggests ‘lazy’ or ‘inactive’. Hence, Argon is a noble gas. In fact, it was the first noble gas to be discovered. Symbolised as ‘A’ or ‘Ar’, it is a chemical element with an atomic number 18. In 1957, the symbol was changed to Ar by IUPAC. Argon is a colourless and odourless gas present in the atmosphere and does not undergo any chemical reactions. Being the third most common gas in the atmosphere, it is approximately 23.8 times abundant as carbon dioxide and is more than 500 times as abundant as neon. It does not make any true chemical compounds, however, it glows violet in a gas discharge tube.
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Aluminium

We all know that today, elements like silver, gold and platinum are considered precious and significant, both in terms of its value and price. However, there is an astonishing fact that an element, today named as ‘Aluminium’ was once called the ‘Metal of Kings’. This was because pure Aluminium was more expensive to produce than gold until the Hall–Heroult process was discovered. From Alum–to–Aluminum–to–Aluminium, it is a chemical element in the Boron Group having an atomic number 13 and symbol Al. A silvery white, soft and ductile metal, it is the third most abundant element in the Universe and is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. About 8% of the earth’s solid surface is made up by Aluminium. Despite its prevalence in the environment, it is not found free in nature and no known life form uses Aluminium salts metabolically. Aluminium is derived from the Latin word ‘alum’ but later in 1807, Sir Humphry Davy proposed the name ‘aluminum’. The element is somewhat decorative, machined, easily formed and casted.
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