Unutterably Silly Quiz

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

1. Au Gold
2. Al Aluminum
3. Na Sodium
4. Ne
5. Ag Silver
6. He Helium
7. W Tungsten
8. N Nitrogen
9. Os
10. Hg Mercury
11. Ca Calcium
12. Ru
13. P Phosphorus
14. K Potassium
15. Sn Tin

Well great work to so quickly correctly name 12 out of 15.

Originally Posted by Shayne Parkinson

Making up the numbers:

Ne Neon
Os Osmium
Ru Rutherfordium, named for Lord Rutherford of Nelson

Neon, yes. Osmium, yes. Rutherfordium, no. There is an element (104 of the periodic chart; one of the man-made trans-uranium elements) named Rutherfordium, and it was indeed named in honor of Lord Rutherford of Nelson, but its symbol is actually Rf. I did include Ru as a deliberate misdirect. The symbol Ru being already in use for an element that like Osmium is a platinum group metal. Discovered by a Russian scientist in 1844 he named it after the Latin word for Rus.

So if Shayne wants to try provide the correct name for Ru that's cool. In any case Stitchawl should be up for the next brain teaser.

[Stitchawl]

Ready? They say 'diamonds are a girl's best friend,' so the women here should be able to get this one...

The Cullinan diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found.
To the nearest 10 carats, what did it weigh?

The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa.
To the nearest 10 carats, what did it weigh?



Stitchawl

[orlok]

I know some of this, having grown up for part of my childhood in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The rough diamond was about 3100 carats, and the polished gem was about 500 carats. May not be within the requisite nearest 10 though...

[Shayne Parkinson]

Ha! You got me, Hamlet. Is it Ruthenium? (Not sure if I have the spelling right, let alone the name.)

Originally Posted by Shayne Parkinson

Ha! You got me, Hamlet. Is it Ruthenium? (Not sure if I have the spelling right, let alone the name.)

Ruthenium it is, and spelled correctly. I must confess that I have a a particular reason for knowledge about Osmium and Ruthenium as my PhD. work was synthesizing, characterizing, and testing as catalysts organo-metallic cluster compounds of Ru and Os. I can name elements form their symbols though as long as lanthanides and some of the most recently produced trans-uranium elements are avoided.

Originally Posted by orlok

I know some of this, having grown up for part of my childhood in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The rough diamond was about 3100 carats, and the polished gem was about 500 carats. May not be withing the requisite nearest 10 though...

That's a lot of carats .

[SneakySnake]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Ready? They say 'diamonds are a girl's best friend,' so the women here should be able to get this one...

The Cullinan diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found.
To the nearest 10 carats, what did it weigh?

The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa.
To the nearest 10 carats, what did it weigh?



Stitchawl

Sadly I have few friends and none of them large.

I did buy some carrots yesty

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by orlok

I know some of this, having grown up for part of my childhood in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The rough diamond was about 3100 carats, and the polished gem was about 500 carats. May not be within the requisite nearest 10 though...

In fact, you were only off by 6.7 carats! That's close enough!

The Cullinan diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found, at 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g).[1]

The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at 530.4 carats (106.1 g)[2] was the largest polished diamond in the world until the 1985 discovery of the Golden Jubilee Diamond, 545.67 carats (109.13 g), also from the Premier Mine. Cullinan I is now mounted in the head of the Sceptre with the Cross. The second largest gem from the Cullinan stone, Cullinan II or the Lesser Star of Africa, at 317.4 carats (63.5 g), is the fourth largest polished diamond in the world. Both gems are in the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.


Take it away, Orlok!


Stitchawl

[orlok]

It's past midnight here, and as soon as I've finished restoring my daughter's BB I'm off to bed. I'll pose a simple question, but am happy if anyone else wants to also post one if y'all get bored.

Can you name the world’s largest desert?

[Bookpossum]

This is a tricky question because one thinks of sand etc. But I think it is either in Antarctica or the Arctic. I'll go with Antarctica as that's pretty big!

I don't know it's name just that there's a desert there.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

This is a tricky question because one thinks of sand etc. But I think it is either in Antarctica or the Arctic. I'll go with Antarctica as that's pretty big!

I don't know it's name just that there's a desert there.

Correct! People do tend to think sand, but in fact Antarctica (5.4 million square miles) is considered a desert, with annual rainfall of only 200 mm / 8 inches.

Over to you Bookpossum.

[Bookpossum]

Okay, here are two of my favourite bits of trivia:

Uncles and Nephews

Hamo Thornycroft was a famous English sculptor in Victorian times (eg the statue of Alfred the Great in Winchester). He had a famous nephew. Who was he?

Aubrey de Selincourt was a well-known English scholar and translator (eg the Penguin Histories of Herodotus). He too had a famous nephew. Who was he?

[poohbear_nc]

Oh! Oh! I know nephew #1 - Siegfried Sassoon!

I have no idea about nephew #2 .....

[Bookpossum]

Yes indeed - one point to poohbear.

Anyone for the second nephew?

[issybird]

I know de Sepincourt's BIL was A.A. Milne, so Christopher Robin?