The Disappearing Spoon, By Sam Kean

Johan Gottlieb Gahn, a swedish chemist, heated the mineral pyrolusite (MnO2) and in the presence of charcoal, found element 25, manganese in the year 1774. This silvery-metallic element has an atomic mass of 54.938049 rounded to 55 with 7 valence electrons. Manganese is a transition metal in group 7, period 4. Manganese is very flammable and dangerous with very strong intensity! It’s found in the earth’s mantle while having a melting point of 1246℉. The element manganese stimulates functions of the human body and resembles iron while being a component of steel. Manganese helps form functions of the human body such as connective tissue, bones, and blood clotting factors. It also stimulates other components such as dentin. Doctors use this element to help patients who need bone growth for damaged bones. This element also helps with sturdy, patterned metabolism. Although, manganese can serve as a health benefit for human bones it can also make people extremely ill when not used appropriately. In the book, The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean shares a story about manganese stimulating shark teeth that have fallen out of a shark's mouth. The manganese had connected to the giant shark teeth. Most shark teeth today run at max 2.5 inches but the manganese covered teeth expanded up to at least 5 inches! All in all, manganese is very …show more content…
Although manganese is much harder and more brittle, iron and manganese are chemically similar. Both these elements cause the same problems. Manganese and iron have components that stain items such as laundry, plates and other fixtures. One of the other reasons that manganese is similar to iron is that manganese can be found in iron-bearing water. Second, manganese increases hardenability and tensile strength of steel. This element is able to decrease the cooling rate while the steel hardens. In the end, manganese is chemically similar to iron and is an important component of