My Element Challenge

[AV1611VET]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

Depends on if I wanted to be outed as a time traveller or not, or I wanted to fit it.

Also, believe it or not: scientific knowledge changes as new discoveries are made!! Imagine that for once!

 

[AV1611VET]

Depends on if I wanted to be outed as a time traveller or not, or I wanted to fit it.

That's up to you.

What's your answer?

 

[AV1611VET]

Also, believe it or not: scientific knowledge changes as new discoveries are made!! Imagine that for once!

This is correct.

In 1925 the 88th element was discovered; and it won't change again until 1937.

But it's 1930, and you're taking a test.

What's your answer, knowing what you know now?

 

[Petros2015]

How would you answer?

That's a good question; I used to have a periodic chart in my bedroom when I was a kid in the 70's. Been a long time, I would have thought there were about 100. Might have guessed there were 33 or 75 known in the 1930's.

Looks like today we have this
Timeline of chemical element discoveries - Wikipedia

So is the question - do you give the answer you know to be true, or the answer the test maker believes to be true (or do you just not really know either answer without cheating, like I just did)

I really didn't know either answer from my timeperiod or theirs without cheating; the honest answer for me is probably Other:__ "I don't know" or Other:___"more than we think"

The actual answer is probably a guess to (maybe) get the point on the test

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

That's up to you.

What's your answer?

This is correct.

In 1925 the 88th element was discovered; and it won't change again until 1937.

But it's 1930, and you're taking a test.

What's your answer, knowing what you know now?

Well, since you told the answer, it's 3 (or C, rather, since that's easier to work with) 88.

Now, why would a chemistry class in the 1930's have a multiple choice question about the number of elements on the periodic table?

 

[AV1611VET]

Looks like today we have this
Timeline of chemical element discoveries - Wikipedia

Ya.

I used that site to make my challenge.

I went to 1925 and counted back all the elements, back to the first one, and I counted 88 of them.

 

[AV1611VET]

Now, why would a chemistry class in the 1930's have a multiple choice question about the number of elements on the periodic table?

Even weirder, is why a music class would have one!

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

Even weirder, is why a music class would have one!

This sounds like a personal experience moment for you.

 

[durangodawood]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

4. Dont trust that Hitler guy.

 

[Halbhh]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

Other. We don't really know how many elements can exist by the way, since it's arbitrary (no good basis) to pick any particular length of half-life time.

" New elements are created by smashing known ones together at super-fast speeds. Ununoctium (first identified in 2002, but only recently recognised and named) is the heaviest known element and was made by firing about 40 quintillion calcium nuclei (travelling at almost the speed of light) into californium (which is itself man-made)! This made just three ununoctium atoms that hung around for about one millisecond before radioactively decaying. "
Will we discover any more elements? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

It wouldn't make sense to rule out an element merely because it has a half-life also. E.g. Plutonium.

So, the answer is: we don't know how many elements currently exist in the Universe somewhere as you read this sentence , like during a neutron star merger event.

 

[SkyWriting]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

I'd buy 3, 88 shares of American Crystal Sugar. And have nice returns.

 

[Kylie]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

Option four, and I would write, "At least 88."

Still, I think that it's very clear that such a question is actually asking "How many elements are there that current science is aware of?"

 

[Rachel20]

4. Other - At least 118. If I travelled back to 1950, I'd also say the universe was finite. Both answers would probably get me flunked, but I'd be right.

 

[Bungle_Bear]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

4. I know you don't use electric kettles in USA, but the answer is 1 per unit.

 

[sjastro]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

Other.
You need to consider falsely identified elements of the time.
The complete list is given.

Our resident IAU hater should note astronomers botched up the identification of Nebulium.
He can add that to his list of other disasters conjured up by scientists such as Pluto, the Hindenburg, Challenger, Thalidomide etc. etc.

 

[Yttrium]

There are seven elements.
Anemo
Cryo
Dendro
Electro
Geo
Hydro
Pyro

... Or have I been playing too much Genshin Impact lately?

 

[Astrophile]

You are sent back in time to 1930, knowing everything you know today.

You are in a classroom taking a test, and the question is:

How many elements are there?

1. 33
2. 75
3. 88
4. Other _____

How would you answer?

I think that 88 elements had been identified by 1930; these were all the elements from hydrogen to uranium except for technetium (element 43), promethium (61), astatine (85) and francium (87). However, if I understand it correctly, it was already known that the atomic number of uranium was 92, so it was reasonable to infer that there were four elements that remained to be discovered.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Our resident IAU hater should note astronomers botched up the identification of Nebulium.
He can add that to his list of other disasters conjured up by scientists such as Pluto, the Hindenburg, Challenger, Thalidomide etc. etc.

Maybe we can get a crusade against IUPAC if we just convert these to fake elements: Hindenburgium, Challengium, Thalidomine, Plutonium, etc.

 

[sjastro]

Maybe we can get a crusade against IUPAC if we just convert these to fake elements: Hindenburgium, Challengium, Thalidomine, Plutonium, etc.

The next element synthesized should be named in AV's honour and called Baloneyium.