boron - 2025 ACF Fall

Tossup

The study of the deltahedral structures of this element’s hydride clusters motivated the development of polyhedral skeletal electron (10[1])pair theory. (10[1])Two banana-shaped bonds (10[3])appear (10[1])in a compound (10[2])consisting of two atoms (10[1])of this (10[1])element (-5[1])and six (10[1])hydrogen atoms; (10[1]-5[2])those bonds are three-center (-5[2])two-electron bonds. (-5[1])The hexagonal form of this element’s (-5[1])nitride (-5[1])has a structure analogous (10[2])to graphene. (10[5]-5[1])With the halogens, (-5[2])this element forms trigonal (10[1])planar (-5[1])compounds (10[1]-5[2])that are (10[1])considered (10[2]-5[1])“electron-deficient,” (10[2]-5[1])such (10[1])as (10[1])a (10[1])trifluoride (10[3]0[1])that (10[3])violates (10[4]-5[1])the (10[1]-5[1])octet (10[1]-5[1])rule. (10[6]-5[1])For (10[1])10 (10[1])points, (10[1])name this (10[1])lightest (10[1])metalloid element (10[2]-5[2])with atomic number five, (10[15])symbolized (10[3])B. (10[4])■END■ (10[25]0[3])

ANSWER: boron [accept B until read] (The compound in the second line is diborane.)

= Average correct buzz position

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Buzzes

Player	Team	Opponent	Position	Value
Alden Thompson	Carleton A	Ottawa C	17	10
Matthew Westley	Purdue A	Chicago A	19	10
Aaryan Sumesh	Berkeley Archer Queen	Berkeley Mighty Miner	22	10
Sai Subramanian	CWRU A	Ohio State A	22	10
Ilyas Choukri	Virginia Tech A	Duke A	22	10
Beckett Pursey	Purdue B	Illinois Blue	23	10
Eric Morshed	Johns Hopkins	Columbia B	26	10
Jeremy Scurlock	Chipola College	Mississippi State A	26	10
Hansen Jin	Berkeley Skeleton King	Berkeley Little Prince	30	10
Charlie Ruff	McGill A	Ottawa D	32	10
Musa Ahmed	Edinburgh C	Edinburgh D	33	-5
Ishan Pachauri	UCLA C	UCLA E	35	10
Joseph Strom	Louisville B	WVU A	37	-5
Rohit Chintala	Maryland B	Penn	37	10
Vishrut Pisupati	Imperial B	Oxford	37	-5
Aarnav Vyas	Illinois Orange	WashU Grizzlers	41	-5
Rob Morris	Durham D	Durham B	41	-5
Anya Srinivasan	Washington Atlantic	Washington Steelhead	43	-5
Yashaswi Jaishy	Iowa B	Rose-Hulman A	49	-5
Michael Shipman	Cambridge D	LSE	50	-5
Danny Han	Stanford B	UCSC	54	10
Pace Klein	CWRU B	Louisville C	54	10
Andrew Nucci	UCLA B	UCLA A	56	10
Jason Lee	Rutgers A	NYU C	56	10
Ian Saylor	Wisconsin A	St. Thomas	56	10
Nathan Whittington	Tennessee A	Emory A	56	10
Brayden Zhang	Vanderbilt B	Clemson B	56	-5
Oliver West	Cambridge B	Warwick	56	10
Yishak Kelkay	ERAU Daytona A	UCF A	59	-5
Miles Spieler	Ohio State C	Michigan State D	59	-5
Gannon Smith	Maryland A	NYU B	63	10
David Xilbille	Georgia Tech C	Georgia Tech F	64	-5
Teddi Maggay	UC Santa Barbara	UCLA D	65	-5
Liam Rojas	Virginia A	Virginia Tech C	65	10
Steven McPhillimey	Lehigh A	Rutgers D	65	-5
Daniel Abrams	Rutgers B	Vassar B	67	10
Advai Srinivasan	UC Irvine	Claremont A	68	10
Noah Trochessett	Florida B	Florida A	68	-5
Abbi Tesreau	George Mason C	George Mason B	68	10
Nishad Joshi	Kentucky	Michigan B	69	10
Arjun Saulnier	CWRU C	Michigan C	69	10
Solomon Blecher	Cornell D	Binghamton C	69	-5
Jackson Crickard	Claremont B	USC B	70	10
Nick Smemoe	UNC A	VCU A	71	10
Misty Chen	Purdue C	Illinois Urbana	72	10
Matthew Bucek	George Mason A	Rowan	73	10
Olivia Ding	Texas	Alberta A	73	10
Bharath Ram	Georgia Tech A	Auburn C	73	10
Eli O'Sick Johnson	Binghamton C	Cornell D	73	0
Johnathan Ahdout	Princeton	Stony Brook	74	10
Matthew Kohn	Williams A	Tufts A	74	10
Daniel Slater	Tennessee Tech	Sewanne	74	10
Alexandra Knight	Liberty B	William & Mary B	75	10
Yoyo Liu	British Columbia C	Washington Sockeye	75	10
Gannon Rice	Clemson A	Auburn A	75	-5
Caleb Slusher	South Carolina A	Georgia A	75	10
James Carrick-Lawson	Southampton	Cambridge E	75	10
Miles Phillips	Florida Tech B	Florida Tech A	76	-5
Will Hoover	RIT A	RIT B	76	10
Andrew Wu	Columbia A	Maryland C	77	-5
Drew Wetterlind	Iowa State	Wisconsin B	77	10
Surya Donath	Stanford A	Berkeley Boss Bandit	78	10
Denali Tran-Le	McGill B	McGill C	78	10
Samuel Li	William & Mary A	William & Mary C	78	10
Darren Kellis	Vanderbilt A	Auburn B	78	-5
Samarth Prajapati	Georgia Tech E	Vanderbilt C	78	10
Atom Lucenet	Imperial D	Birmingham	78	10
Connor Yu	Cornell C	Rochester	78	10
Sarah Dong	Michigan A	Pittsburgh	79	10
Scott Hyde	Georgia Tech B	Alabama A	80	10
Kelvin Ni	NYU A	Rutgers C	81	10
Advaith Jagannath	Cambridge C	Cambridge A	83	10
Gabriel Nell	Cornell B	ESF	84	10
Jas Wang	UCLA F	USC A	86	-5
Ethan Ririe	UCSD B	Claremont C	86	10
Snehan Saroch	Louisville A	Michigan State B	86	10
Gabriel Dodds	Liberty C	UNC D	86	-5
Juan Landaeta	Florida State A	South Florida A	90	10
Ryan Liu	Ohio State D	CWRU D	90	10
Gary Wang	Michigan D	WVU B	90	10
Leonel Rodriquez	Virginia Tech B	Tusculum A	90	10
Francis Dinh	Illinois Canada	William Woods University A	90	10
William Henley	Illinois Champaign	WashU Grolars	90	10
Nikhil Nair	Boston University B	Southern Connecticut State University A	90	10
Jonathan Ho	Alberta B	Boise State	90	10
Rae Meyers	Arizona State A	Washington Masu	90	10
Joyann Hua	British Columbia B	Washington Coho	90	10
Brandon Hunt	Auburn B	Vanderbilt A	90	10
Moses Dong	Georgia Tech F	Georgia Tech C	90	10
Alex Irvine	Sheffield A	Durham C	90	10
James Headon	Edinburgh A	York	90	10
Isaiah Schmid	Binghamton B	Binghamton A	90	10
Luke Sauer	Michigan Tech	Wisconsin C	91	10
George Matsumura	Washington Chum	Washington State	91	10
Daniel Huang	Georgia Tech D	Tennessee B	91	10
Nathan Redford	Liberty A	JMU B	92	10
Ben Weng	Macalester	Minnesota	92	10
Suyog Vibhuti	Washington Steelhead	Washington Atlantic	92	10
Siheon Lee	Imperial C	Bristol	92	10
Brenna Scott	UCLA D	UC Santa Barbara	93	10
Chris Chang	USC A	UCLA F	93	10
Valentina Chamandy	McGill E	Ottawa A	93	0
Rebecca Li	Ottawa A	McGill E	93	10
June Miller	Florida A	Florida B	93	10
Dominic Heffron	Florida Tech A	Florida Tech B	93	10
Cole Hennessy	UCF A	ERAU Daytona A	93	10
Chase Moss	WVU A	Louisville B	93	10
Sam Zavadil	Michigan State D	Ohio State C	93	10
Jeffery Austin	UNC D	Liberty C	93	10
Vedang Singhal	UNC C	NCSU B	93	10
Ben Spirtas	Maryland C	Columbia A	93	0
Alex Wong	Rutgers D	Lehigh A	93	10
Elias Lowrey	Lehigh B	Vassar A	93	10
Sam Hewitt	WashU Grizzlers	Illinois Orange	93	10
Grace Early	Iowa A	Indiana B	93	10
Austin Tran	Rose-Hulman A	Iowa B	93	10
James Windle	Purdue D	Indiana A	93	10
Skand Parvatikar	Arizona State B	Washington Chinook	93	0
Kushagra Bahuguna	Washington Chinook	Arizona State B	93	10
Gabrielle Smith	Auburn A	Clemson A	93	10
John Shelley	Clemson B	Vanderbilt B	93	10
Charlotte Nicholas	Durham B	Durham D	93	10
Fia Gale	Edinburgh D	Edinburgh C	93	10
Alex Miller	Edinburgh B	Sheffield B	93	10
Abhinav Dinesh	LSE	Cambridge D	93	10
Aeron Wheel	Cardiff	Imperial A	93	10
Nayaaz Hashim	Oxford	Imperial B	93	10

Summary

Tournament	Edition	TUH	Conv. %	Neg %	Average Buzz
UK (North)	UK	5	100%	40%	91.80
UK (South)	UK	8	100%	25%	82.88
Northern California	US	4	100%	0%	46.00
Southern California	US	7	100%	29%	71.57
Eastern Canada (1)	US	4	100%	0%	55.00
Florida	US	4	100%	75%	92.25
Great Lakes	US	10	100%	20%	74.50
Lower Mid-Atlantic	US	9	100%	11%	75.44
Upper Mid-Atlantic	US	11	91%	18%	70.50
Upper Mid-Atlantic	US	1	100%	0%	26.00
Midwest	US	9	100%	22%	74.00
North	US	4	100%	0%	79.00
Northeast	US	2	100%	0%	82.00
Pacific	US	8	100%	13%	86.75
Southeast	US	12	100%	33%	76.58
Upstate NY	US	5	80%	20%	82.00