You searched for: “elements
element (s) (noun), elements (pl)
1. A fundamental, essential, or irreducible constituent of a composite entity.
2. The basic assumptions or principles of a subject.
3. A substance composed of atoms having an identical number of protons in each nucleus. Certain elements can't be reduced to simpler substances by normal chemical means.
4. One of four substances: earth, air, fire, or water; formerly regarded as a fundamental constituent of the universe.
5. The resistance wire in an electrical appliance; such as, a heater or an oven.
6. The forces that constitute the weather; especially, severe or inclement weather: Outdoors, the paint on Jim's house had been damaged by the elements.
7. An environment naturally suited to or associated with an individual: Henry is in his element when he is traveling.

The business world is Hazel's element.

8. A distinct group within a larger community: There is an opposition element in the President's staff and cabinet.
9. Etymology: from Latin elementum, "first principle, rudiment, component, ingredient".
This entry is located in the following unit: element-, elemen- (page 1)
(calendars from Roman to modern times)
(History of the Chemical Elements Table)
(History of the Chemical Elements Table)
(Chemical Elements are Listed with Links to Information about Each Chemical Element)
(Old English, Middle English: in, into; within; toward; a prefix used in front of English words, not Latin or Greek elements; as in the words, indoors and inland)
(Greek: a suffix; scientific names; names of metallic elements; a part, lining, or enveloping tissue, region; little; representing a diminutive force)
(Greek elements that create words that mean "lizard")
(Latin: fertilizing male elements of flowers; fine flour; milldust; spores; powder)
(learning English words from Latin and Greek elements)
Word Entries containing the term: “elements
atmophile element (s) (noun), atmophile elements (pl)
Any of the most typical elements of the atmosphere: Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iodine, mercury, and inert gase are all considered to be atmophile elements .

An atmophile elements can be in the uncombined state or, as volatile compounds, concentrate in the gaseous primordial atmosphere.

chemistry and chemical elements
A great deal of information about chemistry and chemical elements is available for both chemists and non-chemists.

This resource includes: chemical words and definitions and a great deal of knowledge about chemical elements that are described at this chemical elements list; as well as, a Chemical-Elements Chart History; Part 1 and Part 2, both of which are available here.

This entry is located in the following unit: Special Contents of Interest (page 2)
geomagnetic element (s) (noun), geomagnetic elements (pl)
The components of the geomagnetic field at the surface of the Earth: The different components in the geomagnetism of the world, called geomagnetic elements, and are located on the exterior part of the Earth.
This entry is located in the following units: geo-, ge- + (page 13) magnet-, magneto- + (page 1)
Latin quotations containing fugit elements.

Eheu fugaces labuntur anni. "Alas, the fleeting years glide by." As seen in Horace's Odes.


Fugit hora. "The hour flies." or "Time flies." As seen in Ovid.


Fugit irreparabile tempus. "We cannot stop time in its tracks." or "Irrecoverable time flies away." Tempus fugit is a shortened version of this proverb (or motto), as seen in Vergil.


Fugite fures omnes. "Fly (Flee) all you thieves."

This entry is located in the following unit: fug-, -fuge, -fugit (page 1)
rare-earth elements, REE, critical resources for high technology
The rare-earth elements (REE) form the largest chemically coherent group in the chemical periodic table.

Although they are generally unfamiliar, the rare-earth elements are essential for many hundreds of applications.

The versatility and specificity of the rare-earth elements have given them a level of technological, environmental, and economic importance considerably greater than might have been expected from their relative obscurity.

As technological applications of rare-earth elements have multiplied over the past several decades, demand for several of the less abundant (and formerly quite obscure) REE has increased dramatically.

Some of the Applications of the Rare-Earth Elements

  • Color cathode-ray tubes and liquid-crystal displays used in computer monitors and televisions employ europium as the red phosphor and no substitute is currently known.
  • Fiber-optic telecommunication cables provide much greater bandwidth than the copper wires and cables they have largely replaced.
  • Fiber-optic cables can transmit signals over long distances because they incorporate periodically spaced lengths of erbium-doped fiber that function as laser amplifiers because it alone possesses the required optical properties.
  • Permanent magnet technology has been revolutionized by alloys containing neodymium, samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, or praseodymium.
  • Small, lightweight, high-strength rare-earth element magnets have allowed miniaturization of numerous electrical and electronic components used in appliances, audio and video equipment, computers, automobiles, communications systems, and military gear.
  • Several rare-earth elements are essential constituents of both petroleum fluid cracking catalysts and automotive pollution-control catalytic converters.
  • Although more expensive, lanthanum-nickel-hydride batteries offer greater energy density, better charge-discharge characteristics, and fewer environmental problems when they are recycled or disposed of.
  • The rare earth elements are essential for a diverse and expanding array of high-technology applications, which constitute an important part of the industrial economy of the United States.
  • Long-term shortages or unavailability of rare-earth elements would force significant changes in many technological aspects of American life.
  • State-run Chinese firms sharply expanded production and slashed prices of rare earths in the 1990's, forcing producers in the United States (previously the world’s leading producer and exporter) and elsewhere out of the market which no doubt will change now that China has restricted its exports of rare-earth minerals.
—Compiled primarily from information located at the
U.S. Geological Survey web site.
This entry is located in the following unit: rar-, rare- + (page 1)
rare-earth minerals, rare earth minerals; rare earth elements
1. A collective term for a series of fifteen related metallic elements having atomic numbers ranging from 57 to 71, and placed in a special row on the periodic table.

    The group consists of the following elements which are not earths and are not literally rare; however, they are called "rare earth minerals" because they were associated with more familiar substances known as "common earth".

    This Lanthanide series is shown with their atomic numbers, their symbols, and their names with links to much more detailed information about the history, who and where they were discovered, terms in four other languages, etc. for each of the listed elements as shown in the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements:

  • 57 La, Lanthanum
  • 58 Ce, Cerium
  • 59 Pr, Praseodymium
  • 60 Nd, Neodymium
  • 61 Pm, Promethium
  • 62 Sm, Samarium
  • 63 Eu, Europium
  • 64 Gd, Gadolinium
  • 65 Tb, Terbium
  • 66 Dy, Dysprosium
  • 67 Ho, Holmium
  • 68 Er, Erbium
  • 69 Tm, Thulium
  • 70 Yb, Ytterbium
  • 71 Lu, Lutetium
  • The elements range in crustal abundance (igneous crust or outer layer of the earth) from cerium, the 25th most abundant element of the 78 common elements in the earth's crust at 60 parts per million, to thulium and lutetium, the least abundant rare-earth elements at about 0.5 part per million.

2. Minerals which contain one or more rare-earth elements as major metal constituents.

Seventeen rare-earth minerals are used in a wide variety of commercial and military applications ranging from precision guided smart bombs, to efficient light bulbs, car batteries, sophisticated radar systems, mobile phones, clean energy technology, DVDs, very large wind turbines, phosphors for monitors, televisions, lighting, catalytic converters, glass polishing, petroleum refining; plus other modern applications.

Rare-earth minerals are also used in computer display screens, motherboards, hard drives, chips, and other-related elements in computers; rare metals like indium is used in liquid-crystal display screens, antimony is used in silicon wafers for semiconductors, neodymium is a vital element in industrial batteries which are used in electric motors and it is found in parts used in the speakers of cellphones, and dysprosium is used in laser materials.

Cerium is needed in such high-profile and sensitive applications as optical sensors used in F-15 fighter aircraft, and the windows and domes at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) which explores the world of high-energy-density physics.

Over 50 pounds of rare earth metal can be found in each Toyota Prius automobile and Japan is the world’s largest importer of rare earths for such products.

Hybrid vehicles use a special neodym magnet made with neodymium to help produce the energy they require to offset their usage of gas and oil.

On April 20, 2010, neodymium was priced at about $46.50 a kilogram (2.20 pounds). Since China made export rules and regulations in July, 2010, prices went up to $92 a kilogram (2.20 pounds).

Rare earth production outside of China by other countries has been limited by higher costs of mining (compared to those of China) and by concerns regarding environmental pollutions from mining wastes by other nations.

The United States previously produced all stages of the rare earth material supply chain, but now most rare earth materials processing is performed in China, giving it a dominant position that can affect the worldwide supply and prices of rare earth minerals.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the name “rare” earth elements is an “historical misnomer”, reflecting the elements’ unfamiliarity, rather than their true rarity.

Even the most scarce of rare earths, lutetium and thulium, are 200 times more abundant than gold in the earth’s crust.

China has about fifty-seven percent of the world’s known reserves, according to the United States Geological Survey. The United States has nine percent of global reserves, Australia has four percent, and Russia has fourteen percent.

Also, according to figures from the U.S. Geological Survey published earlier this year, production from Chinese mines accounted for 120,000 of the 124,000 tons of rare-earth oxides produced globally in 2009; which is more than 97 percent of the available supply; while India, Brazil, and Malaysia made up the rest of the supply or just three percent of the total.

Molycorp, the United States company that owns the Mountain Pass mine in the Mojave Desert of California, announced its intention to raise rare-earths production to meet about a sixth of global demand by 2012, and the company indicated that it would double that output if circumstances justify such an increase of production.

—Compiled from information located in various sources; especially:
The U.S. Geological Survey web site, and
The Chemical Elements List at this Word Info web site.
Additional valuable information is available at this
Rare Earth Elements and their Uses web site.
This entry is located in the following unit: rar-, rare- + (page 1)
(a collective term for all organic substances of relatively recent, non-geological, origin which can be used for energy production)
(enhance your English vocabulary by taking advantage of word origins)
(here are 14 important words with elements from Latin and Greek sources)
Word Entries at Get Words containing the term: “elements
A message from someone who recently purchased a copy of Words for a Modern Age, A Cross Reference of Latin and Greek Combining Elements

John Robertson:

I received your book on 6/26/00. Congratulations on a great book. You no doubt spent a great amount of time in research. I find the book fascinating.

It’s been over 45 years since I studied Latin and Greek in college and unless one keeps it up, one tends to forget. You have rekindled my interest. Now that I’m retired, I’ll have more time. I have always been interested in the origin of words especially from Latin and Greek.

Because the schools do not teach Latin and Greek as they once did, your book would be invaluable in helping students with the English language; thereby enriching their thought process. I am so happy that we still have people in this world who regard knowledge of Latin and Greek essential to scholarly development.

To quote Seneca, Jr. from your book: “Non scholae, sed vitae discimus.” Thank you for your “illusions” and also many thanks to your wife.

Jeffrey

Note from your editor: The “illusions” referred to the dedication in Words for a Modern Age, A Cross Reference of Latin and Greek Combining Elements in which I wrote: “Dedicated to my wife, who has been my sine qua non. She has kept me in good health with her loving concern for my well being and has rarely interfered with my efforts to strive for my ‘illusions.’ ”

The Latin quotation by Seneca, Jr. means: “We don’t learn just for school, but we learn for life.”.




Speaking of books. The following came from "The Spelling Newsletter" published by Ray Laurita, Leonardo Press, PO Box 1326, Camden, ME 04843.


Can This Be True? Department

After reading the following exchange which appeared in the Metropolitan Diary, I have a feeling that our readers will be equally dismayed:

Carol Ruth Langer stopped at the information desk of a Barnes & Noble in Midtown to inquire about a copy of the Book of Job.


"How would you be spelling 'Job'?" the clerk asked.

"J -- O -- B", Ms. Langer said.

"Job books are in the career section."

Ms. Langer tried again. "Not job, Job, a book in the Bible".

"Who is the author" the clerk asked.


At that point, Ms. Langer knew it was time to leave.


As seen in the May 15, 2000, issue of the New York Times.
This entry is located in the following unit: Focusing on Words Newsletter #11 (page 1)
Biomass Elements and Uses
Scientific research into future energy sources via biomass elements.
This entry is located in the following unit: Index of Scientific and Technological Topics (page 1)
Calendar Elements Links
Calendars from Roman to modern times unit.
Chemical Elements Chart History, Part 1 of 2
History of the Chemical Elements Table unit.
Chemical Elements Chart History, Part 1 of 2
History of the Chemical Elements Table unit.
Chemical Elements List
Chemical Elements are Listed with Links to Information about Each Chemical Element unit.
Chemical Elements List
Chemical Elements are Listed with Links to Information about Each Chemical Element unit.
metal, metals; metallic element, metallic elements
1. Any of a class of elements that generally are solid at ordinary temperatures, have a grayish color and a shiny surface, and will conduct heat and electricity.

In a pure electrolytic solution, a metal will form positive ions.

Metals constitute about three-fourths of the known elements and can form alloys with each other and with nonmetals.

Common metals include copper, gold, silver, tin, iron, lead, aluminum, and magnesium.

2. An alloy is a mixture composed of the previously listed-common metals.
This entry is located in the following unit: Metallurgy Topics or Metal Technology + (page 2)
orbital elements
1. A set of six parameters that fix uniquely the shape, size, and orientation of a celestial body.
2. A collection of quantities that, together, describe the size, shape, and orientation of an orbit.

The classical orbital elements include the semi-major axis, eccentricity, inclination, argument of perigee, right ascension of ascending node, mean anomaly, and epoch time.

This entry is located in the following unit: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 18)