Imagine you are given a mystery element. It is, however, a discovered and known element. You may perform a maximum of two observations or tests to determine its identity. Time and money is critical, so you need to prioritize your tests. If you can identify the mystery element with a single test, you get 100 super-geek points from your research lab team.

Pick two tests and justify why you think they will identify the mystery element with certainty. If you think the first test will be enough, explain why.

Question

Imagine you are given a mystery element. It is, however, a discovered and known element. You may perform a maximum of two observations or tests to determine its identity. Time and money is critical, so you need to prioritize your tests. If you can identify the mystery element with a single test, you get 100 super-geek points from your research lab team.

Pick two tests and justify why you think they will identify the mystery element with certainty. If you think the first test will be enough, explain why.

sweetburger · Answer

Any ideas?

welshfella · Answer

I guess if its solid you could spark it in a spectrometer.
theres only 2 liquid elements Mercury and Bromine and you  will know them straight away.

sweetburger · Answer

I was thinking of using light spectroscopy here.