Use in prehistoric times

The first reported use of nickel [7440-02-0] Ni, was in a nickel—copper—2inc alloy produced in China in the Middle Ages and perhaps earlier. Alloys of nickel may have been used in prehistoric times. The metal was first isolated for analytical study in the mid-1700s by Axel Cronstedt, who named it nickel, which derives from the German word kupfemickel, or false copper. 

Zinc - the atomic number is 30 and the chemical symbol is Zn. The name derives from the German zink of unknown origin. It was first used in prehistoric times, where its compounds were used for healing wounds and sore eyes and for making brass. It was recognized as a metal as early as 1374. 

Jadeile is a tough and yet rather easily worked substance, and has lung been used for ornamental purposes. Evidence lias hecn found in Europe. Mexico. Egypt, and elsewhere that it was used in prehistoric times lor both ornaments and implements. The word jadeitc is the general term used for all green-colored tough compact stones that have been used us indicated above. 

One of the oldest of all drugs, opium was used in prehistoric times the ancient Greeks recognized its pain-rclicving properties. Throughout history opium has been an important item of commerce, and in some periods it was the most widely used medical drug. 

Opium (the dried juice of the seed head of the opium poppy) was certainly used in prehistoric times, and medical practice still leans heavily on its... 

H—Hardness. There are different types of hardness. Why Because the value of a material s hardness depends on how it is tested. The hardness of a material is its resistance to the formation of a permanent surface impression by an indenter. You will also see it defined as resistance of a material to deformation, scratching, and erosion. So the geometry of the indenter tip and the crystal orientation (and therefore the microstructure) will affect the hardness. In ceramics, there tends to be wide variations in hardness because it involves plastic deformation and cracking. Table 16.4 lists hardness values on the Mohs hardness scale, a scratch test that can be used to compare hardness of different minerals. For example, quartz has a Mohs hardness of 7, which made flint (a cryptocrystalline quartz) particularly useful in prehistoric times for shaping bone (the mineral component is apatite with hardness 5) and shell (the mineral component is calcite with hardness 3). Mohs hardness scale was not the first scratch hardness technique. As long ago as 1690, Christian Huygens, the famous astronomer, had noticed anisotropy in scratch hardness. 

Discovery Goid occurs native as a rule and the metal was used in prehistoric times, at least as far back as 4000 bc. Gold ornaments have been found in Egyptian tombs with inscriptions dating... 

Discovery Graphite and diamond were known to ancient civilizations. Carbon as soot and charcoal was used in prehistoric time. The discovery of the fullerenes is new (1985) and led to a Nobel Prize in 1996. 

Lead was one of seven metals known to antiquity, but not the first to be used by ancient man. The first metals utilised by man, as early as 10000 BC or before, are likely to have been those that were found in their native or metallic state - gold, copper and to a lesser degree, silver. Copper was widely used in prehistoric times for making simple tools and utensils, and gold and silver for decorative purposes. 

Copper and copper alloys are amongst the earliest metals known to man, having been used from prehistoric times, and their present-day importance is greater than ever before. Their widespread use depends on a combination of good corrosion resistance in a variety of environments, excellent workability, high thermal and electrical conductivities, and attractive mechanical properties at low, normal and moderately elevated temperatures. 

The existence and use of batteries is thought to have roots in prehistoric times, whereby, through archeological discoveries, it was discovered that prehistoric people had created an electrochemical cell that would qualify, under today s definition, as a battery. A curiosity found in Baghdad in 1932 was probably representative of battery technology dating as far back as 2500 years.1 Such a primitive... 

The development of the first effective analgesic drug, opium, was almost certainly adventitious, and occurred in prehistoric times. The use of the dried exudate from slitting the immature capsule of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, as an analgesic, sedative and euphoriant, has a long folkloric history. Isolation of the principal active component morphine (1) as a pure crystalline compound represented one of the early landmarks in organic chemistry. 

The reddish metal was already known in prehistoric times. It occasionally occurs as a native metal, but mostly in conspicuous green ores, from which it is extracted relatively easily. It is convenient to work, but not very hard. Not very optimal as a tool ("Otzi the Iceman" had a copper axe with him). Only through the addition of tin is the more useful bronze obtained. Its zinc alloy is the versatile and widely used brass. Copper is one of the coinage metals. Water pipes are commonly made of copper. Its very good thermal and electrical conductivity is commonly exploited (cable ), as well as its durability (roofs, gutters), as the verdigris (basic copper carbonate) protects the metal. Cu phthalocyanines are the most beautiful blue pigments. Seems to be essential to all life as a trace element. In some molluscs, Cu replaces Fe in the heme complex. A 70-kg human contains 72 mg. 

In addition to the minerals, there are also some rock-forming homogeneous materials that have neither the definite chemical composition nor the distinctive crystal structure characteristic of minerals. Such materials cannot, therefore, be considered as minerals and are known as mineraloids. Obsidian, for example, a natural material that has been widely used since prehistoric times for making lithic tools and decorative objects, is a mineraloid. Obsidian has neither a definite chemical composition nor a characteristic crystal structure and is not, therefore, a mineral. Copal and amber are other mineraloids that since antiquity have been treasured as semiprecious gemstones. 

Barberry root is a yellow-red dye that has been used since prehistoric times it is extracted with hot water from the stems, bark, and roots of Berberis vulgaris, a bush that grows indigenously in Europe as well as in North America. The coloring matter in the dye is the organic compound berberine. Silk and wool can be dyed directly with barberry root, yielding a yellow color however, for dyeing cotton, a mordant is required to attach the dye to the substrate fibers. 

Due to similarities in their names, the mescal bean is often confused with mescaline (Schultes and Hofman 1980, 1992). These derive from entirely different plants whereas mescaline derives from peyote cactus, the mescal bean grows on the shrub Sophora secundiflora. The mescal bean itself has psychoactive effects, and was used since prehistoric times by Indians in the Rio Grande basin. Samples have been found dating back... 

Zinc compounds have found practical uses since prehistoric times. As a metal, zinc was recognized in the 14 century. The publication of the pioneering works of Edward Frankland in the mid-19 century marked the beginnings of organozinc chemistry, as well as the birth of a larger research field—organometallic chemistiy. ... 

Calcium oxide dates from prehistoric times. It is produced by heating limestone to drive off carbon dioxide in a process called calcination CaCO , —-—> CaO, + CO ,At tem-peratures of several hundred degrees Celsius, the reaction is reversible and calcium oxide will react with atmospheric carbon dioxide to produce calcium carbonate. Efficient calcium oxide production is favored at temperatures in excess of 1,000°C. In prehistoric times limestone was heated in open fires to produce lime. Over time, lined pits and kilns were used to produce lime. Brick lime kilns were extensively built starting in the 17th century and the technology to produce lime has remained relatively constant since then. 

Naturally occurring iron oxides and iron oxide hydroxides were used as pigments in prehistoric times (Altamira cave paintings) [3.2]. They were also used as coloring materials by the Egyptians, Greeks, and ancient Romans. 

Heterocyclic colouring matters have been in use since prehistoric times through such natural products as indigo (1) (76MI11200), its 6,6 -dibromo derivative (Tyrian Purple), extracted from the shell of the Mediterranean mollusc, Murex brandaris (74MI11200), and logwood or haematin (2). Haematin is extracted in its leuco or colourless form, haematoxylin,... 

More than 10,000 years ago, the first developments in the field of metallurgy were made in the Near East. Until that time man had used tools made of wood, bone and stone and with these materials he was able to meet all his requirements for devices and tools. An example from that period is the knife made of obsidian, a shiny black, brown or grey magmatically formed rock. The material is very finely crystallized owing to rapid cooling and is therefore often called volcanic glass. By beating it with another rock, you can break off extremely sharp pieces, a property shared with the flint that was mined in the south of The Netherlands in prehistoric times (fig.2.1). 

Metals have been used since prehistoric times. Many primitive iron tools have been excavated. These were probably made from small amounts of native iron found in rock from meteorites. It was not until about 2500 bc that iron became more widely used. This date marks the dawn of the iron age, when people learned how to get iron from its ores in larger quantities by reduction using charcoal. An ore is a naturally occurring mineral from which a metal can be extracted. 

Relief sculpture has been used since prehistoric times, and it is still popular today. It is frequently seen in architecture, where it is used as decoration on the exterior and interior walls of buildings. It is seen in ceramics and jewelry, and in many works of contemporary painting. 

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