# Periodic table eating game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 6, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321 "2016-02-06T15:31:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/1 "2016-02-06T15:31:20Z")
Your challenge: Take a periodic table. Choose any element as a starting point. Inhale 1 liter at sea level pressure or ingest 0.5 grams per kilo of body weight of the element in question. If you successfully inhale/ingest the element and don’t die or need medical attention, you get a point. Within 10 minutes, select the next element which must be above, below, to the left or to the right of the previous one. Once you’ve had an element, you can’t have it again or skip over it. How many points do you think you can collect? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/2 "2016-02-06T15:40:41Z")
Probably wrong, but I’m going to guess CNO is the best available. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/3 "2016-02-06T15:46:47Z")
Well, some elements will probably kill you, but not immediately-- mercury, for example. So you may have doomed yourself, but you still have time to collect points before it does you in. What’s the prize? If it’s world peace, or something, I might play. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/4 "2016-02-06T15:47:37Z")
Or actually HeNeArKrXeRn might work? ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/5 "2016-02-06T16:08:40Z")
Drinking mercury won’t kill you, they used to do that to get rid of constipation. The only prize I can offer at this time is bragging rights… Mr Shine: yes. I’m thinking you could swallow most of the metals, too. But the real fun starts with stuff like sulfur. I gather it’s not actually poisonous in pure form. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/6 "2016-02-06T16:14:12Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Or actually HeNeArKrXeRn might work? You might want to skip the last one if anything more than short term survival is a consideration :p. You could substitute hydrogen to start of with and keep the same score 😃 ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/7 "2016-02-06T17:27:14Z")
I think you’re best bet would be H, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and then probably die with Rn or I for a score of 6. You might also be able to do the lanthanides, starting at Lu and making your way to Sm, then going into the actinides at Pu, Np and U to get around highly radioactive Pm, then back up to the lanthanides to do Nd, Pr, Ce and La for a score of 17. You’d probably die in a few days/weeks, but I think you’d be fine temporarily. Ideally you’d do this with the largest possible sample of metal that you could swallow, to reduce the surface area. If you could swallow a few small bars or marbles or something I think you’d be relatively alright, vs a powder where I think you’d be done immediately. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/8 "2016-02-06T17:34:42Z")
You could maybe also do O, N, C, B, Al, Si, P (red or black allotrope), and maybe S for a score of 8. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/9 "2016-02-06T18:02:35Z")
Do they need to be in elemental form, or are compounds acceptable? If it has to be pure elements, then the noble gases are problematic, being flanked by the toxic halogens on one side and the explosive alkali metals on the other. You’d probably have better luck with the transition elements in the middle: There are a lot of metals that you could swallow a ball bearing of without any particular ill effects. There are a bunch of others in that vicinity which probably aren’t very good for you in the long run, but which won’t be a short-term issue (and even for the long run, you’re probably not getting much of a dose from low-surface-area spherical pellets). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/10 "2016-02-07T22:03:47Z")
Are we talking elemental form, or do compounds count? And, does, say 80% concentration of a gas count? If so, I’ve just gotten at least one point in real life. But O-N-C-Si-Al are obviously Generally Recognized As Safe. Wiki makes me think Ga is OK, and Zn is probably OK, at which point we’re in the metals. I’m sure that BBs of Cu, Ni, Au, Ag, Pt, Ir are all harmless or close to it in the short term. If Os and Pd are as fine as I’d guess, then that’s 15 points or so, even before getting into other metals that might be more problematic long -term but won’t incapacitate you in ten minutes. So I think we’re really looking at the stomach capacity of the contestant – how many metal (plus a couple glass) BBs can they physically swallow? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/11 "2016-02-08T14:52:43Z")
Can we stop when we think we’ve gathered enough points? I’ll pick the noble metals, then declare defeat and spend the next week with a chamberpot. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/12 "2016-02-08T15:30:27Z")
Hm, a new twist: you have to provide your own elements. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/13 "2016-02-11T18:58:51Z")
1. The rules allow as much time as you like to ingest/inhale, the clock is only involved once the full amount is completely consumed 2. The rules do not forbid encapsulating 1g amounts of each solid or liquid element within something undigestable and inert to the element So it looks like all the non-radioactive solids, liquids, and noble gases are doable, plus hydrogen oxygen and nitrogen. Chlorine gas would probably be doable in 1ml whiffs if you took a lot of time between, but it wouldn’t be fun. So… the first 83 elements minus Florine and Technetium, for a score of 81, and I’m guessing some of the radioactive elements wouldn’t be too bad. You could probably design an alpha-proof capsule for 210Po, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/14 "2016-02-11T19:06:51Z")
Oh, and the new twist doesn’t make for a very interesting question, ‘How rich are you?’ isn’t a fun message board game. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/15 "2016-02-11T20:38:06Z")
I think you should get as many points as the atomic number of the element. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodic-table-eating-game/745321/16 "2016-02-12T01:47:25Z")
You should also get extra points for ingesting a more radioactive isotope.