I lucked-in to this answer!  Many years ago, I inherited a spool of Indium wire, which is currently resting on my "neat stuff" shelf in the basement.  While researching Indium, I was impressed with its ability to wet glass (although I've never tried it), and intrigued by the "cry" it was supposed to make when bent.  I tortured a few pieces, but was not very impressed at the slight sound it made.  Maybe I needed a bigger piece to play with.  When the word "cry" appeared in the weekly contest, I didn't have to think very hard for the answer . . .

Here are some videos about the sound and the physics of the "cry."

Deformation of Indium by Mechanical Twinning - Cry (0:04): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iwFNTLRhgc

Tin Cry and Mechanical Twinning (3:40):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rWIHR4pB9s


The boys were waiting for me when I arrived at 5:45, this morning.  They had picked the lock and the coffee was ready when I walked into the building!  During the work-days, I'll have them sorting the boxes in the stock-room, and then have them perform a quick-count on the inventory.  When they are done with that, they'll clean the solder-flux splash from the objective lenses of the microscope, and maybe get some of the dust cleaned from the internal lenses.  Evenings, I can have them cook dinners, giving my wife a rest, and then (after they've finished cleaning up), they can go down to the basement workshop and build up the next group of ShortSniffer cables.  They have more energy and much better work ethics than my kids ever did . . .
Thanks,
Carl


Carl B. Van Wormer, P.E., AE7GD
Senior Hardware Engineer
Cipher Engineering LLC
    21195 NW Evergreen Pkwy Ste 209
    Hillsboro, OR  97124-7167
    503-617-7447x303
    [log in to unmask]     http://cipherengineering.com


-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Hillman
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 5:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] Element Quiz Answer

Hi folks - Here is the Element Quiz Answer:

The Question:
This element's name is Latin in origin. This element will "cry" when bent rapidly. Sheets of this element are inserted into nuclear reactors to help control the fission reaction by absorbing neutrons. What element is being described?

The Answer:
The element is Indium (In)! Indium and Tin are two elements which make an audible "cry" when rapidly deformed. Indium also can "wet" glass which makes it an excellent mirror surface that is better than mercury mirrors.
Indium's name is derived from the Latin word "indicum" which means "indigo".

The winner of the weekly element quiz is Carl Van Wormer, Cipher Engineering LLC, and he will get the services of Clumpy and Kloumpios for the week. The boys caught a cargo flight to Oregon and should be there this morning.

- - - snip - - -

Everyone have a safe week.

Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
[log in to unmask]


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