Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Fun Flag for Lanthanum - Element 57: La La Land

Louisiana and Lanthanum have the same letters for an abbreviation, namely the letter 'L' and the letter 'A.' Consequently this opens up this element for a fun LA or La flag to represent this element.  In the banner of the flag you can see its abbreviation followed by the year of its discovery in 1839, then its name, and finally its atomic number.  All atoms with 57 behave alike, but a variation in neutrons changes its behavior just a little.

Replacing the pelicans are white atom drawings.  Also three red electrons on the mother-atom represent the three droplets of blood from the official Louisiana state flag.  You can see the Louisiana state flag for comparison.

Lanthanum is the leader for elements with two names: Lanthanide or Rare Earths but they are really not that rare.  Most scientists will tell you that in one gobble of parrot like memery. So in essence Lanthanides are oxymoronic, not really rare, rare earth elements are sometimes called Lanthanides or Rare Earth Elements, depending of the tide of the scientists bladder. But seriously folks, elements 57 unto 70 and sometimes 71 are a part of La La Land.







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