-
Asked by malsbure to James, Marcus, Martin, Rob, Suzanne on 12 Mar 2012.
-
Robert Thompson answered on 9 Mar 2012:
“element” just means a part of something, usually an essential part
In science when we talk about elements we are generally talking about the elements which make up all the materials around us. At one point it was believed that if you kept breaking things down, the smallest thing you could get to would be the elements. (we now know that this isn’t true)
The characteristics of a material, (if it is shiny, it’s colour, if it conducts electricity, if it is a gas) are often defined by the elements in the material and the way these elements stick to each other.
Hope that helps
-
-
Marcus Gallagher-Jones answered on 10 Mar 2012:
A great skateboard clothing and equipment company ;).
Sorry couldn’t resist. The term itself means a fundamental or essential part of something. Without this thing the whole could not exist. This is why we refer to the ‘elements of cooking’ or ‘elements of a story’. For most scientists the term refers to those found the periodic table these are the building blocks of matter. The ways these elements combine and interact are what give rise to the there properties (how they look, feel and interact with other things).
As a biologist my favourites are probably Carbon (C) Oxygen (O) Nitrogen (N) and Hydrogen (H) since they compose the backbone of all the molecules essential to life.
-
James Boone answered on 10 Mar 2012:
The periodic table contains all the known elements ever. An element is a species of matter such as Oxygen, Iron, and Carbon etc… Each element is defined by how it is made up, such as how many protons, neutrons and electrons it contains. Everything in the universe is made up of at least one of the elements in that table. It’s pretty amazing to think how big the universe is, and yet there are only a few elements that make it all up.
-
Martin Zaltz Austwick answered on 12 Mar 2012:
There are some elements that you can create in a lab which only exist for a tiny fraction of a second before they decay – turn into a more stable element. Most elements last a lot longer!
-
Suzanne McEndoo answered on 12 Mar 2012:
The elements are basic types of matter, like oxygen, hydrogen, gold, iron, etc. We used to think that these were the very very basic building blocks of the universe, like lego blocks. (Before that, we considered four elements of fire, water, air and earth.) Each element has it’s own character, like it’s boiling point, how it forms crystals, how it interacts with other elements to form molecules.
Now we know that these building blocks are build up of even more basic blocks, protons neutrons and electrons, and we can actually talk about smaller particles than that that work together to create everything else.
Comments