Elemental Limericks, Part 2

[deckardcanine]

Oops, I skipped one last time:

Once, nitrogen went by “azote.”
In our air, it is hardly remote.
It is commonly seen
Within drugs like caffeine
And some water pollutants of note.

Now to pick up where I left off:

When doctors advise us to halt
Our gratuitous usage of salt
To combat hypertension,
They’re likely to mention
The problem is sodium’s fault.

Magnesium comes from old stars.
It’s been found on the surface of Mars
In the rocks and the soil.
Perhaps someday we’ll toil
To ensure that that rocket fuel’s ours.

Aluminum used to be pricy,
As the methods to get it were dicey,
But the process improved
And more stuff was removed.
Now the cost of it isn’t so high, see?

We’re now in the Silicon Age,
When that solid’s become all the rage,
As it’s prized by constructors
Of semiconductors.
Computers need those to engage.

As critters’ remains decompose,
We get phosphates their bodies enclose.
But pure phosphorus, white,
Is more often a blight
Than a boon as it famously glows.

Some compounds of sulfur are rank,
So it’s found in a stink-bomb-based prank
And in garlic and skunks’
Awful signature funks.
It’s why eggs aren’t my fave, to be frank.

Our chlorine is taken from brine.
Now it’s used to make pool water fine.
Back in World War I,
‘Twas a gas but no fun,
Being poisonous quite by design.

By contrast, pure argon’s a shield
In which substances often are sealed
To prevent them from burning,
Like graphite, or turning
Putrescent, like crop farmers’ yield.

Potassium’s healthful to eat
For more reasons than I can repeat.
We consume it in yam,
Avocados, and bran,
Among many more products. That’s sweet.

While calcium’s good to the bone,
It’s not used for nutrition alone.
When it’s not in a meal,
It can help to make steel
And get nitrogen out on its own.