The eNotes Blog How to Mark National PunctuationDay

How to Mark National PunctuationDay Attention, grammarphiles: today is National Punctuation Day! Commemorated every September 24th, National Punctuation Day is the only holiday in existence to celebrate the wonderful, squiggly world of punctuation marks. In a world where punctuation is rapidly in decline, thanks to texting and trendy writers (ahem, ee cummings and James Frey), this day serves to remind us that a semicolon is not a surgical procedure, nor is an ellipsis the moment when the moon moves in front of the sun. Wondering how you can mark this happy day? Unfortunately, NPD isnt a public holiday (yet). However, there are a few of ways to show your appreciation for all things punctuation-y. The organizers behind National Punctuation Day hold an annual competition. This year, in honor of the 2012 presidential election, they ask their constituents to elect one punctuation mark as president: The rules: Write one paragraph with a maximum of three sentences using the following 13 punctuation marks to explain which should be â€Å"presidential,† and why: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation mark, and semicolon. You may use a punctuation mark more than once, and there is no word limit. Multiple entries are permitted. So much for my dark horse vote for the interpunct. Its uses are gravely underrated, if you ask me. Cast your ballot for one of the other hopefuls by visiting the National Punctuation Day website  and submitting your thoughts. The New Yorkers Questioningly column is also partnering with NPD for its latest competition. In its post Punctuation Nation, Questioningly asks its readers to devise a brand new punctuation mark. The constraints are that it must be made from a combination of two already existing punctuation marks, like the interrobang, for instance (?! or sometimes †½). The column suggests, maybe there should be a ,? mark, which indicates slowness and confusion, or a /\, which indicates disingenuous differentiation between two otherwise similar elements. (What?!) Anyway, you get it. To enter, tweet your suggestion, followed by the hashtag #tnyquestion. You can view all of the current submissions to the contest here. And if both of those competitions fail you, what else is there to do but sulk at home and bake food in the shape of punctuation marks, right? Yup, National Punctuation Day has a recipe for that. Bonus Fun: Havent had your fill yet? What a punc you are. This puzzle should set you straight Insert the proper punctuation in this sentence necessary to make it correct: James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher Got it yet? Check your answer here. (No peeking!)

Lead Facts - Element 82 or Pb

Lead Facts - Element 82 or Pb Lead is a heavy metallic element, commonly encountered in radiation shielding and soft alloys. Heres a collection of interesting facts about lead, including about its properties, uses, and sources. Interesting Lead Facts Lead is a relatively abundant element because it the endpoint of the decay schemes of many radioactive elements with higher atomic numbers.Because its fairly easy to extract (for a metal), lead has been used since prehistoric time. Lead was readily available to common people in the Roman Empire, finding use in dishes, plumbing, coins, and statues. People used it for everyday items for thousands of years, until if was finally found to be poisonous toward the end of the 19th century.Tetraethyl lead was added to gasoline to reduce engine knock in the 1920s. Even when it was invented, it was known to be poisonous. Several factory workers died from lead exposure. However, leaded gas wasnt phased out until the 1970s or banned for use in road vehicles until 1996. The metal is still used in car batteries, for making leaded glass, and for radiation shielding. Worldwide production and use of the metal continues to increase.Lead is a post-transition metal. Its not as reactive as many other meta ls, except in powdered state. It displays weak metallic character, often forming covalent bonds with other elements. The element readily bonds to itself, forming rings, chains, and polyhedrons. Unlike most metals, lead is soft, dull, and not very good at conducting electricity. Powdered lead burns with a blue-white flame. The powdered metal is pyrophoric.Pencil lead is actually the graphite form of carbon, but lead metal is soft enough to leave a mark. Lead was used as an early writing instrument.Lead compounds taste sweet. Lead acetate has been called sugar of lead and was used as a sweetener in the past.In the past, it was difficult for people to tell tin and lead apart. They were thought to be two forms of the same substance. Lead was called plumbum nigrum (black lead) while tin was called plumbum candidum (bright lead). Lead Atomic Data Element Name: Lead Symbol: Pb Atomic Number: 82 Atomic Weight: 207.2 Element Group: Basic Metal Discovery: Known to the ancients, with a history dating back at least 7000 years. Mentioned in the book of Exodus. Name Origin: Anglo-Saxon: lead; symbol from Latin: plumbum. Density (g/cc): 11.35 Melting Point (Â °K): 600.65 Boiling Point (Â °K): 2013 Properties: Lead is an extremely soft, highly malleable and ductile, poor electrical conductor, resistant to corrosion, blue-white shiny metal that tarnishes to dull gray in air. Lead is the only metal in which there is zero Thomson effect. Lead is a cumulative poison. Atomic Radius (pm): 175 Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 18.3 Covalent Radius (pm): 147 Ionic Radius: 84 (4e) 120 (2e) Specific Heat (20Â °C J/g mol): 0.159 Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 4.77 Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 177.8 Debye Temperature (Â °K): 88.00 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.8 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 715.2 Oxidation States: 4, 2 Electronic Configuration: [Xe] 4f145d106s26p2 Lattice Structure: Face-Centered Cubic (FCC) Lattice Constant (Ã…): 4.950 Isotopes: Natural lead is a mixture of four stable isotopes: 204Pb (1.48%), 206Pb (23.6%), 207Pb (22.6%), and 208Pb (52.3%). Twenty-seven other isotopes are known, all radioactive. Uses: Lead is used as a sound absorber, x radiation shield, and to absorb vibrations. It is used in fishing weights, to coat the wicks of some candles, as a coolant (molten lead), as ballast, and for electrodes. Lead compounds are used in paints, insecticides, and storage batteries. The oxide is used to make leaded crystal and flint glass. Alloys are used as solder, pewter, type metal, bullets, shot, antifriction lubricants, and plumbing. Sources: Lead exists in its native form, though it is rare. Lead may be obtained from galena (PbS) by a roasting process. Other common lead minerals include anglesite, cerussite, and minim. Other Facts: Alchemists believed lead to be the oldest metal. It was associated with the planet Saturn. References: Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952)