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Name that element! Which element on the periodic table helps play tricks with birthday candles, colors plants green, and soothes achy stomachs? Follow these eight clues to sleuth the identity of this element. Then, turn the page to test your chemistry IQ.

From: Science World  |  Date: 1/16/2006  |  Author: Carney, Elizabeth

CLUE 1

FIELD OF GREENS

Like most elements, the mystery element is usually found combined with other elements in a compound. One compound formed by the mystery element is essential to all green plants. The element--a metal--is central to chlorophyll, the compound that plants use to turn carbon dioxide and water into energy and oxygen. Chlorophyll also gives plants their green hue, says Burt Goldberg, a biochemist at New York University.

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