Curated playlist

Chemical elements with hexagonal close-packed structure

DysprosiumDysprosium got its name from a Greek word meaning "hard to get." A chemist needed over thirty tries in 1886.
ZincAncient brass makers had no idea they were using zinc. The zinc metal vaporized in copper furnaces before anyone saw it.
ZirconiumReactor makers must remove hafnium from zirconium because hafnium absorbs neutrons 600 times faster.
CadmiumCadmium was found in all 28 dark chocolate brands Consumer Reports tested in 2022.
TerbiumTwo elements, erbium and terbium, have had their names switched since the 1800s. Nobody has corrected it.
TitaniumTitanium was first spotted as black sand that stuck to a magnet. A Cornish clergyman noticed it in 1791.
BerylliumBeryllium, a metal that can kill people who breathe its dust, forms mirrors in the James Webb Space Telescope.
CobaltCobalt got its name from German miners who blamed a goblin. The blue ore gave them no silver.
ErbiumErbium, a rare metal, turns water rose-pink when its ions dissolve. It is used inside fiber-optic cables.
RutheniumIn 1844, Karl Ernst Claus isolated ruthenium from platinum left over from minting ruble coins.
ScandiumScandium is about as common in Earth's crust as cobalt. Yet only 15 to 20 tonnes of its oxide are traded a year.
YttriumA Swedish village called Ytterby lent its name to four chemical elements. It began with one heavy black rock.
GadoliniumGadolinium is toxic as a free ion, yet doctors inject it into veins. A protective wrapping makes it safe enough for MRI.
MagnesiumWater makes burning magnesium burn worse. The metal rips water apart, releasing hydrogen gas that feeds the flame.
HafniumHafnium hid inside zirconium ores for more than fifty years. The two metals act almost identically.
OsmiumOsmium, element 76 with the symbol Os, is the densest stable element known. A lump of it weighs about twice as much as a lump of lead the same size. Yet this hard, brittle, bluish-white metal is almost invisible in everyday life, and it…