“ Kryptonite ” is a fabricated material that bring down Superman , but the element krypton actually survive , and molecules that end in “ ite ” in reality exist . Why ca n’t we make kryptonite ?
interpersonal chemistry is one of those sciences that gives us tons of information up front , if only we ’re educated enough to use it . ( Remember high school tests , during which the chemistry instructor loudly announced that all the information you could ever want was on the occasional table at the front of the class ? I hate those . ) One of the ways it gives this information is through the name of each chemical . Each audio in the name is supposed to clue us in to a component of the atom . So if you see the word “ ite , ” at the end of a mote ’s name , you should roll in the hay a few things about it .
The name kryptonite indicate that the molecule is anoxyanion . An anion is a negatively - charged particle with multiple oxygen corpuscle impound . Most of the time , when you hear about these oxyanions , you get a line about “ ates ” not “ ites . ” Nitrate ( potassium nitrate makessmoke bomb ) is NO3- , sulfate ( potassium sulfate makes plant food ) is SO42- , and carbonate ( atomic number 20 carbonate is in shells and chalk ) is CO32- . “ Ites ” have the same negative charge as “ Ate , ” but have one less O particle . So nitrite is NO2- , and sulfite is SO32- .
Hw many atomic number 8 speck and what charge does kryptonite have ? None . Krypton is a noble gas , and does n’t mix with O . For a tenacious time , people thought it could n’t fuse with anything at all . It was only in 1960 that scientist last managed to combine krypton with atomic number 9 . Fluorine is the most reactive chemical element we know of , and it still read a temperature of−183 ° Cto get it to nobble up with krypton . There is no kryptonite .
At least , there is no kryptonite except the kind we specify ourselves . In Superman Returns , Lex Luthor steals a boxwood tag “ sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide , ” which turns out to be kryptonite . In 2007 , that same chemical was discovered in a Serbian mine .
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