Okay. Since this is a new chemistry blog, let's first start with the basics. Of course you can't survive in the world of chemistry without knowing the Periodic Table of Elements. We can say that this is the map of the chemistry world for all the most basic information are here.
The image on the left is an artist's depiction of what the world of chemistry looks like from outer space. It was made by an unknown artist in the renaissance. Just kidding, I just made it up.
Let's go back to the subject. The Periodic Table, as you see it, is a tabular display of chemical elements and provides a very easy and useful framework of classifying, systematizing, arranging and comparing the chemical elements. Nowadays, it is very useful not only in chemistry but also in biology, physics and chemical engineering. The inventor of the very first periodic table is the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (Well in Soviet Russia, periodic table invents you.).
I know. This is not Mendeleev.
This is Mendeleev.
But since we're not really chemistry teachers, we can't discuss everything about the periodic table after all, this is just a blog so we'll just tell you......
"How to use the periodic table?"
Yeah. That's what I was going to say.
First you have to know the most basic parts of the periodic table. Lets take an element from the table itself.
This is what you call a cell. The cell is a block where you can find the name, symbol, atomic number, atomic mass etc. etc. of an element. Well in this case, only the atomic number is shown.
The name of the element can be derived from the name of its discoverer, the place where it was discovered, it's appearance or in some cases, the discoverer just gives it the name he/she wants.
The symbol is one or two (sometimes three) letters that is used to represent the element. Usually, it is the first two letters of the element's name or it's Latin name.
The atomic number is the number of protons of the element. It also describes the elements behavior.
The periodic table has more parts other than these but I hope this blog helps you to get started. We'll post more topics soon. Thanks for reading! =D
The periodic table has more parts other than these but I hope this blog helps you to get started. We'll post more topics soon. Thanks for reading! =D
FAST FACTS!!!
The ONLY letter from the English alphabet that does not appear anywhere on the periodic table is the letter "J".
The last element on the periodic table, UNUNOCTIUM wasn't created until 2006. It has a half-life of 0.00089 seconds, meaning that half of it decays into another element in that period of time. It is not known which state ununoctium appears in at room temperature, but it is believed to be a gas. The instability of higher elements means that there is a limit to the number of elements that can exist.
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