Today, February 7, is National Periodic Table Day. You could be forgiven for not knowing – it was actually only ‘founded’ in May 2015, so this is only the second time it’s rolled around. February 7 was picked because it marks the date on which John Newlands’ first periodic table of elements was published way back in 1863. By happy coincidence it’s also only a day before the birthday of Dmitri Mendeleev, the scientist most famously associated with the periodic table.
To mark the occasion here are a selection of periodic tables I’ve made over the past few years, which include a serious look at element properties, and a not-so-serious look at the names for newly-discovered elements that were rejected over the years.
The Complete Periodic Table of Elements
The periodic table has actually only just been ‘completed’ in the past year. Four new elements had their discoveries and names confirmed in 2016, and replaced the last few placeholder positions in the table. I say ‘completed’ because scientists are still trying to create elements beyond element 118, so in years to come an extra row may be required to accommodate new element entries.
The Periodic Table of Data
Here’s a periodic table that’s crammed with data. It includes the melting point, boiling point, density, electronegativity, radius, and first ionisation energy of each element in the table. It’s also colour-coded to show how these properties vary from element to element.
Download this table and find out more about it here.
The Periodic Table of Element Name Origins
The origins of the elements’ names are varied both in terms of language and in terms of what they were named after. This table, created in collaboration with Prof. Mark Lorch from the University of Hull, tries to pin down where those names come from. There’s also an accompanying explanatory poster on why some elements have symbols that don’t match up with their names.
Download this table and find out more about it here.
The Periodic Table of Rejected Element Names
For elements discovered more recently, a catalogue of names have been seriously and not-so-seriously suggested before the official names were confirmed. Past elements, too, have been subject to naming variations, be it due to simultaneous discoveries, language differences, or scientific squabbles over the right to name the element in question. This table looks at a selection of these ‘rejected’ element names.
Download this table and find out more about it here.
The Periodic Table of Endangered Elements
Not all of the elements in the periodic table are plentiful. While we will not ever truly run out of an element, some are considered endangered in the sense that in the future they may be too spread out and costly to extract. This table, made in collaboration with the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute, takes a look at the elements considered to be most at risk.
Download this table and find out more about it here.
The Periodic Table of Oxidation States
This last one shows the various known oxidation states for the different elements in the periodic table. It’s probably of more use to the chemists out there than for general interest; still, if you are curious as to what it depicts, there’s more detail in the original post.
Download this table and find out more about it here.
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16 Comments
Бухалыч
“Dmitri Mendeleev, the scientist most famously associated with the periodic table” – guys, you cannot hazard a guess, that D.I. Mendeleev created the Table & Law, can you? I consider that as an unpolite statement, as if his name was just promoted in terms of foundation of the Table – only Mendeleev is a creator of the present-day periodic law and no discussions should take place. He summarized and advanced all previous trials to optimize the phenomena describing nature and characteristics of chemical elements.
PhysChemFan
“Dmitri Mendeleev, the scientist most famously associated with the periodic table” – guys, you cannot hazard a guess, that D.I. Mendeleev created the Table & Law, can you? I consider that as an unpolite statement, as if his name was just promoted in terms of foundation of the Table – only Mendeleev is a creator of the present-day periodic law and no more discussions should take place. He summarized and advanced all previous trials to optimize the phenomena describing nature and characteristics of chemical elements.
Compound Interest
I think you’re being a little over-sensitive on this one – it certainly wasn’t the intention to belittle Mendeleev’s contribution, but was simply an acknowledgement that he’s the scientist most think of when they think of the periodic table!
thevictoriousgecko
The name origin table is lame, obscures the foreign language origins of element names. The element symbol Cu comes from cuprum, it was one of the seven metals known to antiquity. Aurum and Argentum also have Latin origins. W is for wolfram, refers to the traditional German name of the ore from which was extracted.
Compound Interest
I think you’ve misunderstood the table – it looks at origins of English element names, not the original Latin. The linked article discussing elements with symbols that don’t seem to link to their names *does* both describe and acknowledge this.
Eric Sullenberger
First let me say thank you for the post, because so far it looks like you have been dealing with a lot of criticism and not enough praise. Thank you for creating these great graphics, for educating, and for informing me that there is even a Periodic Table Day.
However, and again I hate to nitpick, but on the first graphic [the Complete Periodic Table], you have Lu & Lr at then end of the f-block colored in the f-block colors, rather than d-block colors- like you did on the Periodic Table of Oxidation States and Periodic Table of Data. I know this is an easy mistake to make, but I thought I would point it out. Hopefully it isn’t hard to fix. And again, Thank You!
Compound Interest
Thanks Eric! I appreciate you pointing out the error. Not hard to fix – in fact it’s already done! Hope you continue to enjoy the site.
Diane McLean
These are awesome! Thank you!!
Jim Smith
This is fun site. Hate to be picky but if Cerium’s name origin is astronomical AND mythological, isn’t that true for Mercury, Uranium, Neptunium, and Plutonium?
Compound Interest
I’ll have to check with the collaborator I made the graphic with on this one (Prof Mark Lorch from the University of Hull), but I seem to remember that in the case of Cerium there’s some ambiguity over whether its name was after the asteroid or after the mythological reference. I’ll have to check and get back to you!
Yaosen Tian
Could you make a Periodic Table with info of X-Ray Emission Line?
CallMeGwei
Would it be possible to use your endangered elements periodic table as part of a satirical cartoon?
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