Watch the video and answer the following questions.
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From 1952 to 1953, Sydney detectives investigated a ____ number of murder and ____ murder cases that were ____ yet shared a common element: thallium poisoning.
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The secret to thallium toxicity lies in its structural similarity to potassium — an element that helps ____ the body’s fluids ____ muscle contraction, and ____ nerve signals.
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If even a small amount of thallium ____ its way into the body — for example, through a ____ tea or a slice of cake — it easily ____ potassium, causing the body to slowly and painfully shut down.
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Lead, for example, ____ places with the body’s essential metals like calcium, in turn ____ neuronal communication in the brain. Travelling through the bloodstream, it also ____ toxic levels of molecules known as reactive oxygen species, which over time can stress and kill cells.
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What is “Mad Hatter” disease?
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Mercury is quick to ____ with certain parts of proteins found throughout the body. And upon __, mercury ____ the proteins into different shapes, rendering them useless.
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Some elements are dangerous because of how they __, ____ , or even ____ in the outside environment.
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Which column of the periodic table are known as alkali metals? _____
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This can lead to violent results— pure cesium, for example, bursts into flames when exposed to air, and explodes when dropped in water. Francium is likely the most reactive alkali based on its position in the periodic table, but we don’t know for sure. With a ____ of ____ minutes at most, it’s thought that less than ____ ____ exists on Earth at any one time.
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Which elements are perhaps the most threatening elements? _____
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The substances readily ____ energy, or ____ , due to their highly unstable nuclear composition. This reactive nature is what’s ____ to create some of the world’s most dangerous nuclear weapons.
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Radioactive elements typically emit energy in the form of ______, ______, ______ , or ______.
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Which radioactive element is particularly hazardous? _____
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In fact, it’s theorised that a single gram of one alpha emitter, polonium, could kill upwards of ____ ____ people. Polonium was first discovered by ____ ____ , and tragically her daughter, researcher Irene Joliot-Curie, may have been one of its first victims after she was exposed in a lab accident. Polonium is rare in nature with few commercial uses, so only a small amount is synthesised each year.
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Thallium, on the other hand, wasn’t so difficult to find in the early 1950s in Australia. At the time, Sydney was ____ with chronic rat infestations. And thallium was the main ingredient in the popular and cheap rat poison called Thall-Rat.
ANSWER SHEET
- Staggering, attempted, unrelated\
- Regulate, initiate, transmit \
- Sneaks, tainted, supplants, \
- Switches, disrupting, generates\
- Mercury’s toxicity was made famous in the 19th century due to its widespread use in felt hat production. Prolonged exposure made hat makers ill with what was later known as “Mad Hatter” disease, with symptoms that included personality changes, emotional disturbances, and tremors. \
- Reacts, binding, twists\
- The first column\
- Respond, react, explode\
- Half-life, 22, an ounce\
- radioactive elements\
- Emit, release, decay, harnessed\
- alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, electromagnetic radiation.\
- alpha particles\
- 50 million, Marie Curie\
- plagued
