To Mendeleev’s Castle
You and your friends have been magically transported inside
an 18-room castle built by the famous chemist Dimitri
Mendeleev. Each room is entirely made from one of the
elements of the first three rows of the periodic table. No
element is repeated. Each element will appear in the state
(solid, liquid, or gas) it retains at room temperature. You do
not know where in the castle you have been transported.
A holographic image of Mendeleev will
accompany you on your journey, giving you
clues to help you determine which room you are
in.
Each time you identify the element a room is
made of, you will be transported to another room
in the castle. Once you travel through all the
rooms, you will find your way out of Castle
Mendeleev. Good luck!
1. You and your friends have
suddenly materialized into a
room made entirely of a shiny,
metallic solid.
A wooden door is set into one
wall.
A shimmering holograph appears before you. It is
an old man with long brown hair and a full-length
beard streaked with gray hairs. Wearing a
nineteenth-century topcoat, it is Dimitri Mendeleev.
In a crisp, intelligent voice, the
scientist says,
"This room has been
constructed of a strong
lightweight, corrosionresistant metal composed of
atoms containing 3 electrons
in the outer level and 13
protons in their nuclei. It is
the most abundant metal in
the earth's crust."
What element is this room made of? Carve its
symbol into the wooden door to escape to the
next room.
2. The next room you find yourselves in is made of a
colorless, life-giving gas.
Suddenly,
Mendeleev
appears again
saying
"This element is a non-metal
diatomic gas that comprises
about 20% of normal air. It
combines with most other
elements to form oxides."
What symbol will you carve into the
door of this room?
3. Next, you and your friends are transported to a room made
from a greenish-yellow gas, which immediately begins to burn
your nostrils and your throat. You reach into your packs for
gas masks to protect yourselves from the poisonous fumes.
For the third time a holograph of Mendeleev speaks to you
through the eerie gases.
"This diatomic gas is a
halogen, found in ordinary
table salt."
What element surrounds you?
4. In the next room you find yourselves surrounded by
bright yellow crystals. As you remove your gas
masks, the old chemist, tinted yellow by light
reflecting off the crystals, appears yet again.
"The atoms of this element have 6
electrons in the outer level."
Carve the symbol of the correct
element into the door.
5. You are now in a room
made of a colorless gas,
located in one of the towers
of the Castle Mendeleev.
Beautifully colored
balloons hang in mid air all
around you. Trying to talk
to your friends, your voice
sounds high-pitched and
squeaky. The holographic
image tells you…
"The atoms of this
element are very
noble."
What element is this
room made of?
6. The sixth room you are transported into, on the second floor
of the castle, is made of a silver-gray metallic solid. Taking a
knife out of your backpack, you are able to cut a piece of it off
with the blade because the element is very soft. A portion of
the element touches your hand, burning your skin a little.
Filling a small glass beaker with water from your canteen, you
drop the substance in it to observe its reaction with water. It
fizzes around the water releasing a flammable gas and then
disappears
7. Next, you are transported to a room with bright
white, waxy walls! You are ordered to turn off the
lights by a mysterious voice and the entire room
glows in the dark when you do! The voice tells you:
This element is a non-metal
and can either be found as
the color red, white, or black.
It also glows in the dark!
8. You are now in a room made of a very shiny,
silvery metal! The image of Mendeleev appears
and says:
“This element is a
good conductor and is
used in computers and
other electronics like
calculators.”
9. The 9th room is composed of a gas that has no
odor, no color, and no taste! An image of the
chemist reappears and says to you:
“An atom of this element has 2
electrons in its first shell and 5
in its second shell. This element
also makes up about 80% of air.
What is it?”
10. The next room is made of a soft, white material.
So soft, it can be cut with a knife. Mendeleev says
to you:
It is a very reactive metal that
has to be stored in oil or some
other unreactive liquid! It
does mix well with chlorine to
make us salt!
11. Next, you are transported to a room in the
corner of the castle. This room is made of a thick,
unreactive gas! Mendeleev flickers in to tell you:
“This element is used to fill
light bulbs and is found in
group 18. It’s atomic mass is
around 40 amu’s.”
12. After escaping from room 11, you find yourself
in a room made of a solid substance. Mendeleev’s
image appears in front of you and says:
“This element can be found as
either graphite (like coal) or as
diamonds. Without it, jewelers
would go broke and every breath
you exhale would be incomplete!
What room is this made of?
13. The next room isn’t as glamorous as the last,
but it is filled with another unreactive gas.
Mendeleev says to you:
“This gas glows reddishorange when an electric
current runs through it! Vegas
wouldn’t be the same without
it!
14. This room is made of a light, gray metal and is
found in group #2. Mendeleev appears and says:
“Because this element is strong and
hard, it is added to copper to make it
even stronger, yet more elastic! It’s
atomic mass is around 9 amu’s. This
element has a super high melting point
around 1300 degrees Celsius!”
15. The next room is made of a hard, black shiny
material, but suddenly it changes to a brown
powder. Mendeleev appears:
“This element doesn’t conduct
heat or electricity very well, but is
used in atomic reactors. It has 5
protons!”
16. This room is made of a greenish-yellow gas! It
is in the halogen family. Mendeleev tells you:
“When combined with sodium,
this element helps reduce tooth
decay! You may need treatments
of this if you don’t have any of
this in your water!”
17. Next, you have been transported to a room on
the first floor of the Castle that is made of a white
solid! Mendeleev speaks to you again, saying:
“When combined with other
elements, like oxygen, it can be
used as an antacid like Pepto! But,
used just as the metal it has many
uses! Hint: Think Milk!”
18. You finally find yourself in the 2nd tower of the
Castle. The room is made of a gas. In fact, it is the
lightest and simplest of all elements and the most
abundant in the universe! What element is it???
Upon opening the final door out of the castle,
Mendeleev appears one last time and says:
“Congratulations adventurers. Come, have a
seat and drink to your victory with a toast of
complex carbon, hydrogen, oxygen compounds
dissolved in a liquid compound of hydrogen and
oxygen.”
Don’t worry, it’s just lemonade!