Hydrogen: A Metal?
Had a bit of fun this morning playing with Scientific American's new interactive Periodic Table.
Most of the entries were spot-on, and the link-backs to Nature Chemistry's IYE series (now free!) certainly help a lot. Just one small quibble:
Doesn't that say "alkali metal?" Although I appreciate that might be true at incredibly high pressures (thanks, Dr. Eisen, for link), what about everyday, ordinary hydrogen gas?
Protons? Sure, they're sort of the classic metal-though-not-a-metal. But, to be fair, you can make lots of things behave like metals (see: O, Br, I, C, Si...) that normally wouldn't.
I'd love to hear some spirited debate in the comments, and appreciate any Sci Am editorial responses.
Update: Stu Cantrill sends over this Nature News article covering Eremets' and Troyan's work.
Neil Withers jumps in with a contradictory example, also from Nature.
Most of the entries were spot-on, and the link-backs to Nature Chemistry's IYE series (now free!) certainly help a lot. Just one small quibble:
Doesn't that say "alkali metal?" Although I appreciate that might be true at incredibly high pressures (thanks, Dr. Eisen, for link), what about everyday, ordinary hydrogen gas?
Protons? Sure, they're sort of the classic metal-though-not-a-metal. But, to be fair, you can make lots of things behave like metals (see: O, Br, I, C, Si...) that normally wouldn't.
I'd love to hear some spirited debate in the comments, and appreciate any Sci Am editorial responses.
Update: Stu Cantrill sends over this Nature News article covering Eremets' and Troyan's work.
Neil Withers jumps in with a contradictory example, also from Nature.
