Salt With Your Halogen? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Salt producing

Halogen means salt producing because when halogens interact with metals they create different types of salts. For example, when chlorine is combined with sodium it produces sodium chloride which can be found in table salt.

Answer: Five

The five natural elements are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine. There is a sixth, artificially created, element called tennessine included in this grouping as it exhibits some properties related to halogens.

Answer: Photography

Due to its sensitivity to light, silver bromide forms the basis for materials used in photography. It is commonly used in the making of films. Some historians also believe that the Shroud of Turin was created from silver bromide.

Answer: Thyroid

Iodine occurs naturally in many foods such as fish, dairy products and table salt. Not consuming enough iodine laden foods can cause goitre in the thyroid gland, an indication of improper production of hormones. Iodine based medication would be required to correct the condition.

Answer: True

The toxicity of halogens is related to their atomic weight. The heavier ones are less toxic than the lighter ones. Fluorine and chlorine are very toxic, bromine and iodine less so, while astatine is toxic in terms of its radioactivity.

Answer: Disinfectant

Chlorine is commonly used as a disinfectant for drinking water and the water in swimming pools. It eliminates bacteria through the process of sterilization. Other uses are for bleaching or doing laundry whites. Combined with sodium it produces table salt.

Answer: Prevention of tooth decay

Fluorine is a highly toxic element so it is important to add appropriate amounts of fluoride to the water supply. It is recommended that the added amount be 0.7 to 1.2mg/L. Excessive levels of fluoride can cause dental and skeletal fluorosis, with the excess fluoride accumulating in the bones.

Answer: Iodine and Bromine

Minimal amounts of either bromine or iodine are added to bulbs which contain a tungsten filament. This is used to make the filament last longer and so result in longer bulb life. Halogen lamps also shine brighter than those with conventional incandescent bulbs.

Answer: True

Astatine is a radioactive element with unstable isotopes. It only occurs naturally as a decay product of heavier elements such as uranium, neptunium and plutonium. It is difficult to study astatine due to its short half-life but some of its properties are consistent with halogens.

Answer: Russia

The development of tennessine was a joint effort between American and Russian nuclear scientists. It was named tennessine due to initial experimentation at Vanderbilt University in Nashville before Russian scientists succeeded in identifying it in 2005. Key elemental properties of tennessine resulted in its placement among the halogens.