Elements word chain

Submitted by XYU on March 3, 2025
Hi folks; hope everyone is doing alright.

I thought we could have a word chain of the elements of the periodic table (if it hasn't been done before - I've only just started looking at the message board). Say I begin with "hydrogen", then the next person has to post a comment with another element, starting with N (the last letter of hydrogen), and so on.

Then I realised this will probably not last very long, so here is another challenge for you quiz experts: what would be the longest possible element word chain?

I think we need to have the rule that each element can only be used once, in case it ends up in a "perpetual check" ping-pong between the same two elements and never ends.

Have a quizzical day!

3 Comments
+1
Level 68
Mar 3, 2025
Mendelevium
+1
Level 62
Mar 3, 2025
Here's another thought. What would happen if you mixed these actual substances, in that order? That is, start with some hydrogen, pour/squirt some neon onto it, then add nitrogen to the mixture, etc. Perhaps there are some chemists here who can tell us. I don't know much about that, but I suspect that when the neodymium is added, things take a turn for the worse.
+1
Level 62
Mar 3, 2025
Here is my suggestion for the longest possible element word chain:

Zinc > cobalt > tin > neon > nitrogen > nickel > lead > dysprosium > mercury > yttrium > manganese > erbium > molybdenum > moscovium > mendelevium > meitnerium > magnesium.

I don't think there is a longer one than that, unless you can find something that I missed. You could have arsenic at the start instead of zinc, but zinc just seems cooler.