• Question: what type of element you like working with more?

    Asked by aziz1234 to Charlotte, Colin, Becki, Rick on 27 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Charlotte Dalton

      Charlotte Dalton answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      all my work involves sugar molecules which are made up of the elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. I don’t normally use elements in their native (uncombined) form but I do get to use compounds of silver and other metals, we have to use sulfur compounds sometimes too and they stink! my favourite element is probably nitrogen as it is a bit double sided- all around us in the air but nitrogen compounds can be really explosive and scary!

    • Photo: Rebecca Scott

      Rebecca Scott answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      At the moment I do a lot of work with glass which is mostly made up from silicon, sodium/potassium and calcium. But it can also have a lot of cool minor and trace elements (low to very small amounts) such as manganese, antimony, copper or cobalt. I like these elements quite a lot as they change the colours of the glass. And depending on the type of atmosphere in the furnace when you make the glass will change the state of the element and you can get a whole range of colours from just one of them…or combine them for more interesting results.

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