Nickel
This is the front side of the game card for Nix the Nickel Horned Unicorn. Click the pic to take a look at all the fun info on the back. Use it as a memorization tool, a trading card or as science class prizes and rewards.
Article – The Magical Periodic Table Element – Nickel – https://sybrina.com/2023/12/12/the-magical-periodic-table-element-nickel/
Article – Fun Facts about Nickel From The US Mint – https://www.usmint.gov/learn/kids/coins/fun-facts/category/nickel
Article – The Hidden History of the Nickel – https://www.history.com/news/the-hidden-history-of-the-nickel
Article – Guide To A Low Nickel Diet – https://www.dermatitisacademy.com/nickel-page/low-nickel-diet-guide/
Article – Nickel Allergy Symptoms – https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nickel-allergy/symptoms-causes/syc-20351529
Article About Nickel Discoverer – https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/cronstedt-axel-fredrik
Fact Sheet – https://ciaaw.org/nickel.htm
Fact Sheet – https://www.nuclear-power.com/nickel-atomic-number-mass-density/
Fact Sheet – Pentlandite – https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/pentlandite
Fact Sheet – Pentlandite – https://www.mindat.org/min-3155.html
Video – https://youtu.be/AUmoaZn9bek
Lesson – Nickel – https://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=nickel
Wiki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel
Links and Notes for Nix’s chemistry inspired magical abilities:
Nix’s ferromagnetic detection ability (sensing metal, “reading” the alloy in the debris)
Real nickel is only weakly ferromagnetic on its own, but nickel-rich alloys are strongly so — good grounding for a “metallic horn” that senses ferromagnetic materials:
- Is Nickel Magnetic? (University of Maryland physics dept.)
- Nickel Iron Alloys & Soft Magnetics — Arnold Magnetic Technologies
The forge-ruin alloy (“forty-two percent nickel, thirty-eight percent iron, twelve percent chromium”)
- Nichrome — Wikipedia
- Iron-Nickel Alloys — ScienceDirect Topics overview
- Natural nickel-iron precedent (why “pre-Settlement” builders might have had access to nickel-iron in quantity):
- Iron meteorite — Wikipedia, Nickel-iron meteorites — EBSCO Research Starters
Why the alloy “glinted” and survived millennia mostly intact (corrosion resistance)
- Why Nickel Rarely Rusts and Resists Corrosion
- Nickel Alloys for Corrosive Environments — Haynes International
Guarded Forest’s nickel-oxide bark causing compass/directional-magic interference
Nickel oxide nanoparticles do have documented magnetic/EMI-shielding behavior, which is correlates with “an electromagnetic interference field”:
- Nickel-containing composite material for electromagnetic radiation shielding — Springer
- Magnetic properties of NiO (nickel oxide) nanoparticles — ResearchGate
- 2 Magnetic Conditions That Impact Electronic Compasses — Jewell Instruments
Nix’s “life-reading” sense detecting heartbeats through stone (iron in blood)
Discovery of the magnetic behavior of hemoglobin — PMC/NIH
- Does blood have magnetic properties? — Science Learning Hub
- Blood in MRI Scans: The Truth About Hemoglobin and Magnetism
Draveth’s chemistry, hydrochloric acid dissolving the mineral array, and the Catalytic Amplifier’s nickel-based reaction chemistry
Nickel’s real-world role as a catalyst is a strong anchor for “Catalytic Amplifier”:
- Nickel: The “Spirited Horse” of Transition Metal Catalysis — ACS Catalysis
- Recent Advances in Nickel Catalysis — PMC/NIH
- Raney nickel — Wikipedia (a real nickel catalyst famous for being pyrophoric/reactive)
General reference for the Nickel Institute (industry body, good broad backing for alloy claims)
Author’s Fantasy License:
Hemoglobin’s iron is bound in a form that isn’t ferromagnetic enough to be magnetically detected at a distance the way the story implies, but it’s a fun bit of real biochemistry.
