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The INTERNET Database of Periodic Tables

There are thousands of periodic tables in web space, but this is the only comprehensive database of periodic tables & periodic system formulations. If you know of an interesting periodic table that is missing, please contact the database curator: Mark R. Leach Ph.D.

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3-Dimensional Periodic Table formulations, by date:

Béguyer de Chancourtois' Vis Tellurique

The French geologist , Alexandre-Émile Béguyer de Chancourtois was the first person to make use of atomic weights to produce a classification of periodicity. He drew the elements as a continuous spiral around a metal cylinder divided into 16 parts. The atomic weight of oxygen was taken as 16 and was used as the standard against which all the other elements were compared. Tellurium was situated at the centre, prompting vis tellurique, or telluric screw.

Many thanks to Peter Wothers – and courtesy of the Master and Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge – comes a high quality image of the original 1862 formulation. Click here, or on the image to enlarge:

Watch Peter Wothers 'unravel' and show Prof. Martyn Poliakoff this first periodic table at 17min 50sec into the YouTube video below:

Some more information:

Chancourtois' original formulation includes elements in their correct places, selected compounds and some elements in more than one place. The helix was an important advance in that it introduced the concept of periodicity, but it was flawed.

It has been suggested that Chancourtois called his formulation a telluric helix because tellurium is found in the middle. However, most elements are found as there their 'earths' – tellus, telluris – or oxides, which for a mineralogist would have been highly significant.

The formulation was rediscovered in the 1889 (P. J. Hartog, "A First Foreshadowing of the Periodic Law" Nature 41, 186-8 (1889)), and since then it has appeared most often in a simplified form that emphasizes the virtues and eliminates its flaws. [Thanks to CG for this info.]

See also:

• Dutch Wikipedia
• ScienceWorld
• Science & Society Picture Library
• Roy Alexander's All Periodic Tables site

A three dimensional models of the telluric helix:

There are representations of the 1862 formulation at the School of Mines at ParisTech:

Meyer's Spiral System

Meyer's Spiral System of 1872 (from van Spronsen):

Spring's Diagram

From Quam & Quam's 1934 review paper.pdf

Shepard's Natural Classification

Shepard's Natural Classification of the Elements, a spiral formulation with instructions for turning it into a three-dimensional table. From: Elements of Inorganic Chemistry, Descriptive and Qualitative (pp221), by J. H. Shepard, (1886), Boston MA, pub. D. C. Heath

René Vernon writes:

Note the instructions along the side, to turn the table into a tube (spiral form) and the 19 spaces from La to eka-Ce. Here, Yb needs to be moved back one column into group II, so as to leave room for Lu under La. Then eka-Ce becomes Hf. This results in La + 15 lanthanoids.

The accompanying text says:

"Elements of most distinct basic character are found towards the left; non-metals predominate in the upper and middle parts of Groups V., VI., and VII. ; while the lower part of the table is marked by the more indifferent elements.

"A double spiral will be traced beyond Si (beginning with P and V respectively) and distinguished by heavy-face and light-face type.

"The harmony of nature here exhibited is most impressive. Is it possible that the so-called elements are really compounds? Did the various 'elements' of the earth and sun once exist as hydrogen, when our solar system was a nebula? And will modern chemists ever revive the famed problem of the alchemists, and seek to turn the base metals into gold? Far more precious than gold is the search for truth; and the more we learn of science, the broader becomes our conception of what we know in part, and the deeper should be our reverence for the infinite thought of the Creator."

Bassett's Vertical Arrangement

Bassett's Vertical Arrangement is actually designed to be a three dimensional formulation. Quam & Quam's review paper states:

"This table resembles Mendeléeff's vertical arrangement. The Cs period, however, starts far above the horizontal line of K and Rb, thereby giving space to the known and predicted elements of that period. The alkali metals appear in three horizontal lines. Co and Ni are arranged in order of their atomic weights.

"Bassett suggested cutting out the table and rolling it onto a cylinder of such circumference that similar elements would fall in line in Groups. For instance, Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs would then fall on a line parallel to the axis of the cylinder."

From Quam & Quam's 1934 review paper.pdf

Crookes' vis generatrix

Model of Crookes’ vis generatrix of 1898, built by his assistant, Gardiner. From: Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 63, 408.

The vertical scale represents the atomic weight of the elements from H = 1 to Ur = 239.

Missing elements are represented by a white circle. Similar elements appear underneath each other:

Gooch & Walker Periodic Table

Mazurs' reproduction (p. 82) of a periodic table formulation by Frank Austin Gooch and Claude Frederic Walker, from Outlines of Inorganic Chemistry, Macmillan, London and New York, p. 8/9, 1905 (ref Mazurs p.188):

Thanks to Laurie Palmer for the tip, and to Philip Stewart for the corrections and details.

Gooch & Walker's Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Series of Elements

This three dimensional formulation – clearly developed from the Crookes' vis generatrix model – is given a 1905 textbook by Gooch & Walker: Outlines of Inorganic Chemistry (see the Google Books scanned version pp273).

"The arrangement of the elements in three series of eight groups each may be represented by a model in which large and small wooden balls, on a spiral wire, represent the common and rare elements respectively; those balls falling in the same vertical column representing elements in the same groups":

Soddy's Three-Dimensional System

Soddy's three-dimensional system of 1911 (from van Spronsen):

Emerson's Helix

From Quam & Quam's 1934 review paper.pdf:

Another version of Emerson's Helix from "100 Years of Periodic Law of Chemical Elements, Nauka 1969, p. 74:

Thanks to Larry T for the tip!

Ramsay's The Elements Arranged in The Periodic System (with movable flap)

From pages 220 & 221 of William Ramsay's book The Gases of The Atmosphere, McMillan (1915) comes a periodic table with a fold (or flap) that can be moved from page 220 to 221:

This periodic table is available as a Project Gutenberg ebook. The HTML version gives this dual representation:

Thanks to John Marks for the tip!

Harkins & Hall's Periodic Table

From Quam & Quam's 1934 review paper.pdf

Kohlweiler's System

Kohlweiler's system of 1920 (from van Spronsen):

Schaltenbrand's Helical Periodic Table

G. Schaltenbrand, Darstellung des periodischen Systems der Elemente durch eine räumliche Spirale, Z. anorg. allgem. Chem., 112, 221-4 (Sept. 1920)

From Quam & Quam's 1934 review:

"The elements are arranged in order of atomic weights on an eccentric spiral. The four sets of curves include positions of similar elements. The first small turn carries H and He; the remainder of the inert elements and the halogens are on successive small turns in analogous positions.

"On the next larger turn are found the alkali, alkaline-earth, and aluminum family elements.

"The long periods require larger turns and the period containing the rare-earth elements requires the longest turn of all. Elements of the same group are found in the same plane passing through the axis of the spiral."

Commissioned in 2019 to match George Schaltenbrand's 1920 design for a helical gathering of the elements – albeit extended to all 118 current elements – and signed by Yuri Oganessian, it is almost certainly the most expensive periodic table in the world."

Model of the Periodic System of de Chancourtois

From the Science Museum in the UK collection, a model of the Periodic System of de Chancourtois from 1862:

"Model demonstrating the telluric screw periodic system of Alexander-Emile Beguyer de Chancourtois proposed in a paper published in 1862.

"This model, made by the Science Museum in 1925, provides a rare physical realisation of arguably the earliest periodic system of for the elements. It was devised by the French geologist, Alexander-Emile Beguyer de Chancourtois in 1862, 7 years prior to Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table.

"De Chancourtois arranged the elements in the order of their atomic weights along a helix which was traced on the surface of a vertical cylinder, with an angle of 45 degrees to its axis. The base of the cylinder was divided into 16 equal parts (the atomic weight of oxygen), and the lengths of the spiral corresponding to the weights of the elements were found by taking the one-sixteenth part of a complete turn as a unit":

Friend's Periodic Sphere

J. A. N. Friend, "The periodic sphere and the position of the rare earth metals", Chem. News., 130, 196-7 (Mar., 1925).

From Quam & Quam's 1934 review paper.pdf

Courtines' Model of the Periodic Table or Periodic Classification

Published in J. Chem. Ed., 2, 2, 107-109 in 1925 by M. Courtines of the Laboratory of Experimental Physics, College of France, Paris.

Q&Q write:

"The unfolded tower arrangement appears much like a modernised Chauvierre chart cut on a line between Ni and Cu, Cu, with the right part fitted to the left in order of increasing atomic numbers. The rare-earth elements, however, are placed on a novel accordion-like folded strip with ends made secure just below Xt and between Ba and Hf. The author describes in detail the method of folding the chart into a tower-like cylindrical model. H is folded back to show its lack of relationship other groups of elements. In the space for each symbol, electron arrangements and isotopes are also enumerated."

And, in what appears to be a 'top down' view of the above 3D formulation, Courtine M 1926, Oùen est la physique, Gauthier-Villars et Cie, Paris:

Thanks to Eric Scerri for the tip & René Vernon's additions! See the website EricScerri.com and Eric's Twitter Feed

Janet's Three-Dimensional Spiral-Tube System

Janet's Three-Dimensional Spiral-Tube System of 1928 (from van Spronsen):

Click here for large diagram.

Chicago Museum of Science & Industry Periodic Table

The [Chicago] Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) opened to the public in 1933. The building that the Museum of Science and Industry now occupies however, has a rich history going back to its construction for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

The Special Exhibits Hall – Alexander Graham Bell Memorial Suite – had a huge Periodic Table with the ninety-two elements arrayed in colorful and orderly fashion. These "building blocks of the universe" stood beneath the great central dome of the Museum.

Steve Rosengard, Assistant Curator, Collections Department, Museum of Science & Industry writes:

"After doing a bit of digging, it looks as though the original table was in the Great Hall within the Hall of Science at the 1933-34 World's Fair. Because of prior negotiations, virtually everything inside the Hall of Science was designed by MSI draftsmen so that it could be re-used in the Museum afterwards. The records show that MSI took in the table but had it redesigned and rebuilt by Shaw Naess and Murphy (E.M. Weymer Co. was a subcontractor) in 1938-39. One of the pages from the booklet from the Fair states the '[p]]articular credit is extended to Dr. B.S. Hopkins, of the University of Illinois, for assistance in arranging the collection.' The term assistance is a bit misleading because from the other papers in the file, it's very clear that Hopkins basically did the design entirely on his own. In terms of funding, I would assume that Rand McNally made some contribution beyond the loan of the globe on top since it was known as the Rand-McNally Periodic Table, but I have found no records supporting this."

Some historical images are available from the Chicago Postcard Museum.

Thanks to Roy Alexander for the info!

Romanoff's System

From Revue Scientifique 1934, V. Romanoff's paper (pages 661–665) Le Système Périodique de Mendéléeff Par Représentation Graphique.

Dr. Erik Strub writes:

"The article's Fig. 1 is the first [formulation] (to my knowledge) which contains a "classical" representation of the periodic system in which an Actinoide series is placed beneath the Lanthanoides and not beneath the d block elements:

Romanoff's System of 1934 (from van Spronsen):

Gamow [First] Ribbon Periodic Table

George Gamow is well known for his Gamow 1961 ribbon formulation. It appeared in a 1948 book: One, Two, Three... Infinity, but it first appeared in 1940 in 'The Birth and Death of the Sun' (Viking, N. Y.).

Conal Boyce writes:

"The 1940 version of the wound ribbon (in The Birth and Death of the Sun, Figure 12) appears to be the earliest. Gamow re-used it in two editions of another book, 1, 2, 3...Infinity (1948, 1953), as is. He redrew it from scratch for the 1961 edition of 1, 2, 3...Infinity, adding about a dozen new items, notably Np through No, on a new loop. (Unfortunately, in the 1961 version he introduced 4 or 5 goofy errors, including the non-existent 'Fa' for Ga, and a misplaced 'Ba' where Sr belongs, etc.) Most significantly, in another one of his 1961 publications, a book entitled The Atom and Its Nucleus, he swapped the left and right halves of the diagram (see pp. 10-11, Figure 2), so that the noble gas column could be seen as the backbone of the whole structure. He calls it out as such on page 9."

Thanks to Conal and Philip Stewart for the tip!

Finke's Spatial System

Finke's spatial system of 1943 (from van Spronsen):

Talpain's Gnomonic Classification of the Elements

Talpain PL 1945, Gnomonic classification of elements, J.Phys. Radium 6, 176-181 (in French), https://doi.org/10.1051/jphysrad:0194500606017600

Talpain writes:

"To overcome the drawbacks presented by the various tables in rows and columns into which the classification of chemical elements is usually inserted, the author proposes a diagram in space, having the form of a double pyramid constructed according to a simple arithmetic law, inspired by Greek surveyors. Under these conditions, all the bodies belonging to the same chemical family are placed on the same column, and all those which have similar physical properties (magnetic, electrical, radioactive, crystallographic, rare earths, etc.) are grouped together. This same diagram also makes it possible to represent the electronic structure of the atoms, the quantified states of the electrons, the energy levels and the spectral lines of hydrogen. Perhaps spectroscopists will be able to use it to also represent the lines of other bodies."

Thanks to René for the tip!

Stedman's Conic System

D. F. Stedman, A Periodic Arrangement of the Elements, Canadian Journal of Research, 1947, 25b(3): 199-210, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjr47b-023

Stedman's conic system from van Spronsen:

From c&en:

Wrigley's Lamina System

In two papers: A.N. Wrigley, W.C. Mast, and T.P. McCutcheon, "A Laminar Form of the Periodic Table, part 1," Journal of Chemical Education 26 (1949): 216-218 and A.N. Wrigley, W.C. Mast, and T.P. McCutcheon, "A Laminar Form of the Periodic Table, part 2: Theoretical Development, and Modifications," Journal of Chemical Education 26 (1949): 248-250 a Laminar Periodic Table is introduced. (Thanks to Ann E. Robinson for this informaton & references.)

This formulation was discussed and re-drawn by van Spronsen in 1969:

There is a Russian publication "100 Years of Periodic Law of Chemical Elements", Nauka 1969. On page 87 there is a formulation that appears to be a version of the van Spronsen re-drawing. The caption says: "Volumetric Model of 18-period Long System of D.I.Mendeleev." after Riggli (1949). (Thanks to Larry T for this.)

Riggli's Volumetric Model of the Periodic Table

From the Russian Book "100 Years of Periodic Law of Chemical Elements", Nauka 1969, p.87.

The caption says: "Volumetric Model of 18-period Long System of D.I.Mendeleev." after Riggli (1949).

Thanks to Larry T for the tip!

Scherer's Student Model of Spiral Periodic Chart

George A. Scherer, New Aids for Teaching the Periodic Law, School Science and Mathematics, vol. 49, no. 2 (1949).

René Vernon writes:

"This is a Left-Step periodic table with a split d-block, that can be rearranged into a cylinder. Students were expected to keep a copy of the two halves of the table in their note books, for reassembly as required. It was a clever way of introducing the 32-column form, and the transition from 2D to 3D (that faded into obscurity)":

Thanks to René for the tip!

McCutchon's Simplified Periodic Classification of the Elements

McCutchon KB, A simplified periodic classification of the elements, Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 17–19 (1950)

This 3-dimensional table has two double-sided flaps attached. The top flap is the f bock. Under that is the d block.

The superscripts denote the number of d electrons an element has. Thus, La¹ is shown as being an f¹ element. But it has a 1 superscript, meaning that the f electron count is reduced by 1 and the d electron count is 1.

René Vernon writes:

"On group 3, McCutchon cryptically says: The proposed arrangement brings out certain known facts about the tertiary elements which are rarely shown by other arrangements. For example, it suggests, correctly, that the resemblance between yttrium and lutecium is greater than that between yttrium and lanthanum. It classifies lanthanum but not lutecium as a rare earth, in accordance with their chemical properties (which also contradict spectrographic evidence at this point). It also demonstrates the tetravalence of both cerium and thorium, and that thorium and protactinium show a resemblance in chemical properties to zirconium and niobium, as well as to hafnium and tantalum."

I say "cryptically" because McCutchon presents no further evidence in support of his assertion that the resemblance between Y and Lu is greater than between Y and La. He may have had in mind the fact that Lu is more often found in ores of Y than is the case for La... and I don't understand his reference to spectrographic evidence.

Sabo & Lakatosh's Volumetric Model of the Periodic Table

From the Russian Book: 100 Years of Periodic Law of Chemical Elements, Nauka 1969, p.87.

The caption says: "Volumetric Model of 18-period Long System of D.I.Mendeleev." after Sabo and Lakatosh (1954).

Thanks to Larry T for the tip!

Spherical Periodic Table

Unfortunately, this wonderful formulation from a Union Carbide advertisement (1960) does not work; it is not (in this author's opinion) possible to wrap the PT onto a sphere:

Gamow's Wound Ribbon Periodic Table

From George Gamow's 1961 book, The Atom and Its Nucleus. There is an earlier 1948 version.

Thanks to Roy Alexander for the tip!

Royal Military College of Science Three-dimensional Spiral

From a Science Museum blog, Rajay Shah writes:

"Supported by poles and twisting around itself in a snake-like manner, this object is one of many weird and interesting forms of the periodic table. It was built at the Royal Military College of Science in 1963. The Science Museum asked for this model to be made for them to display in their new chemistry gallery after the original model was seen at an exhibition held by the Physical Society.":

Giguère's Periodic Table

Paul Giguère's Periodic Table formulation, "The 'new look' for the periodic system". Chemistry in Canada vol. 18 (12): 36–39 (see p. 37):

Alexander Arrangement of Elements

The Alexander Arrangement of Elements is a 3D periodic table concept based on strict adherence to the Periodic Law, and, like the first representation of elements in periods by de Chancourtois, connects every element data box in unbroken order.

Roy Alexander, a Brooklyn born science museum exhibit and teaching aid designer, has told me in a personal communication: "I came up with the idea (being ignorant of anything but the flat Sargent Welch charts) in 1965. I wasn't able to patent [the downslant in the p-block] until 1971." (U.S.Patent #3,581,409)

At the time Roy had no idea that others had employed a similar technique to build a 3D table - including the very first periodic table developer, de Chancourtois, who is often credited with being the original discoverer of the periodicity of elements and the originator of the three-dimensional method of element arrangement and representation.

These 3D forms attempt to return the Seaborg separated f-block to its proper position in the table rather than remaining exiled. This, and contemporary attitudes about Hydrogen as being in more families than one - is uniquely addressed in Roy's 3D models.

Subsequent study of the Periodic Law and the periodic table's value in education convinced Roy that the basic rationale for developing the Alexander Arrangement of Elements was only one of the many good reasons for producing it for the public to share, so he sought and was granted a U.S. patent on the p-block downslant in order to manufacture and market the AAEs as teaching/learning aids.

Roy Alexander's goal of introducing the AAE into classrooms, laboratories, chemistry textbooks, and reference material remains the same today, but rather than replacing the conventional charts, its niche in education is at the very point that a lesson on arrangement of atoms into a chart begins. Element sequencing (vs. 24 breaks/gaps) credits the chart as well as the Periodic Law, which establishes subsequent confidence in the common flat charts, much as the world globe establishes the reality, and flat printed projections - maps - are vital (and relished) for convenience.

The first commercial production of Alexander Arrangements was in 1995, when Roy pioneered by constructing a website - periodictable.com - for marketing. Three versions were printed: two versions for student entry of element symbols, the larger die-cut for easier assembly.

An even larger model was produced with basic element data printed in the boxes, also die cut. These were printed on white card stock, with black ink.

Another version (below) was produced in conjunction with ATMI's annual report in 2000. This was added to Roy's product offerings, called the DeskTopper, and is still available. They are die cut to form a 7.25" high model with the f-block position attached after La, but can be altered to put La on the f-block. (See AAE Features at the top of this page.)

Besides the hands-on educational application, the DeskTopper can be used as a pen & pencil caddy, and flattened without losing the continuity of the element data. This flattened form has suggested design of a Braille periodic table of the same format, and this is also being pursued.

Marketing the Alexander Arrangements was moved to AllPeriodicTables.com in cooperation with Theodore Gray in 2006, who purchased the PeriodicTable.com domain name and funded the production of Roy's newest model, illustrated with Theo's amazing element photos.

For the first time, the elements beyond those naturally occurring have been omitted from a modern periodic table, simplifying initiation to chemistry. This factor denies the concept of obsolescence, and this version has been called the Forever Periodic Table. Details of this new 3D periodic table model kit have been placed at 3DPeriodicTable.com.

Further AAE information and images may be found at the Alexander Arrangement website.

Rare Earth Pop Out Periodic Table

From Rare Earths, The Fraternal Elements by Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., United States Atomic Energy Commission Division of Technical Information Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 65-60546 1964; 1966 (Rev.)

There is an interesting point made in the text concerning the term "Rare Earths":

"The name rare earths is actually a misnomer for these elements are neither rare nor earths. They are metals, and they are quite abundant. Cerium, which is the most abundant, ranks 28th in the abundances of the naturally occurring elements and is more plentiful than beryllium, cobalt, germanium, lead, tin, or uranium. The least abundant naturally occurring rare earth, thulium, is more plentiful than cadmium, gold, iodine, mercury, platinum, or silver. Indeed, 25% of the elements are scarcer than thulium."

Thanks to René for the tip!

Mazurs' other 1967 Formulation

From Edward G. Mazurs' 1974 (2nd edition) Graphic Representations of the Periodic System During One Hundred Years, University of Alabama Press:

Thanks to Philip Stewart for the tip!

Island of Stability

From Wikipedia: The island of stability in nuclear physics describes a set of as-yet undiscovered isotopes of transuranium elements which are theorized to be much more stable than others. The possibility was proposed by Glenn T. Seaborg in the late 1960s: Prospectd for Further Considerable Extension of the Periodic Table, J.Chem.Educ., 46, 626-633 (1969) and reprinted in Modern Alchemy: Selected Papers of Glenn T. Seaborg (1994).

The hypothesis is that the atomic nucleus is built up in "shells" in a manner similar to the structure of the much larger electron shells in atoms. In both cases, shells are just groups of quantum energy levels that are relatively close to each other.

Octagonal Prismatic Periodic Table

In the Journal of Chemical Education (1972), Tang Wah Kow of New Method College Hong Kong, presents an octagonal prismatic periodic table:

Mazurs Wooden Version of Mendeleev's Periodic Table

There is a posting in the The Elements Unearthed blog by David V Black concerning a view of the Marzus archive:

"My biggest discovery this week has been a collection in our archives of the notes of Edward Mazurs, who wrote the definitive work on classifying different systems of periodic tables in 1957 with a revised edition in 1974 (Graphic Representations of the Periodic System During One Hundred Years, University of Alabama Press). He collected articles and wrote extensive, detailed notes on every version of the periodic table he could find as it developed from its start in the early 1860s with the work of de Chancourtois through 1974. All of those notes have been donated to Chemical Heritage Foundation and fill up ten binders, with meticulous drawings, charts, tables, and frequent additions and changes. There are also some pieces of the original artwork prepared for the book, and a wooden model of the periodic table Mazurs built himself. "

Mazurs' PT Formulation Analysis

In his 1974 book Edward G. Mazurs (2nd edition) Graphic Representations of the Periodic System During One Hundred Years, University of Alabama Press gives a comprehensive analysis of periodic table formulations.

Mazurs identifies most PT formulations as being:

• Spiral
• Plane lemniscate
• Concentric circles
• Helix on a cylinder
• Helix on a cone
• Space lemniscate
• Space concentric circles

Periodic RoundTable

Gary Katz says: "The Periodic RoundTable is a unique three-dimensional model of the Periodic Table, an elegant spatial arrangement of the chemical elements that is both symmetrical and mathematical. It is the ultimate refinement of Mendeleev's scheme, one that will take us into the twenty-first century and beyond. The Periodic RoundTable possesses such a high degree of order because it is based exclusively on the system of ideal electronic configuration, which in turn is the basis of periodicity among the elements. In the Periodic RoundTable the electron shells are filled in the same order as the elements themselves appear, demonstrating a holistic relationship between the chemistry of the elements and the orbital descriptions of their electrons."

Cement Chemist's Periodic Cube

Periodic table designed in the style of a cube by J. Francis Young, Professor of Civil and Ceramic Engineering, University of Illinois. This table was published by Instruments for Research and Industry and includes instructions for assembly into a 3-D model.

More information, including high resolution files, at the Science History Institute.

Thanks to René Vernon for the tip!

Periodic Pyramid

Periodic table designed in the style of a pyramid by Charles E. Gragg. This table was published by Instruments for Research and Industry and includes instructions for assembly into a 3-D model.

More information, including high resolution files, at the Science History Institute.

Thanks to René Vernon for the tip!

Stowe's A Physicist's Periodic Table

The Physicist's Periodic Table by Timothy Stowe is a well know formulation for those interested in such things, but for a long time its origin was been lost. Eric Scerri has rediscovered the original formulation: a 1989 publication by the company Instruments Research and Industry (I²R) Inc:

From Wikipedia, this Stowe Format Periodic Table is Based on a graphic from Scholten J."Secret Lanthanides", 2005, ISBN 90-74817-16-5;

Eric Scerri has developed an updated version of the Stowe formulation, here.

Dufour's Periodic Tree

The Dufour Periodictree periodic table formulation, from here:

 

Thanks to Eric Scerri for the tip!
See the website EricScerri.com and Eric's Twitter Feed.

Magarshak & Malinsky's Three Dimensional Periodic Table

Y. Magarshak & J. Malinsky's Three Dimensional Periodic Table from Nature, 360, 114-115 (1992).

M&M say:

"We believe that our three dimensional representation is a useful tool for visualizing properties of chemical elements and is in complete accord with quantum mechanics."

Thanks to René for the tip!

f-Block Elements 3D Periodic Table

From conference in Helsinki on the f-Block Elements to commemorate the bicentennial of Johan Gadolin's 1794 analysis of Yittria.

Pekka Pykkö writes to say:

"We used [this formulation] in Helsinki in 1994 on the cover of ICFE-2 conference proceedings. Who invented it or where it was copied from, I do not know. Anyway, all the hundreds of participants received it from us":

Claude Piguet's paper, Chimia 73 (2019) 165–172, also uses this 3D version of the standard periodic table. The text says: "Periodic table highlighting the location of Rare Earths (red elements). The elements shown in blue correspond to the actinide series":

Thanks to Eric Scerri for the tip!
See the website EricScerri.com and Eric's Twitter Feed.

Helical Periodic Table

Tarquin Publications sell a make-your-own three dimensional, helical periodic table.

Good Periodic Table of The Elements

From the Good Periodic Table website:

"The Geometric Organisation Of Dimension, aka 'G.O.O.D', Periodic Tables primary function acts as an identifier of relationships between like particles of matter. This operates utilising the original Sample process first discovered by Mendeleev; were atoms that are linked in a straight line hold a unique relationship as compared to the rest of the atoms on the table."

Chemical Elements Pyramidal Diagram

A Chemical Elements Pyramidal Diagram by Thomas Zerkov.

"The present work introduces a new arrangement of the chemical elements. Unlike the most popular existing arrangements, which are two-dimensional, this new arrangement is three-dimensional. It organizes the elements in a pyramidal structure of four levels, giving a clear spatial expression of different relations between the chemical elements. Since the three-dimensional structures are harder to perceive than the two-dimensional ones, the present work also suggests a two-dimensional table representation of the three-dimensional pyramidal diagram, where the four levels are all placed in a single plane, instead of one above the other."

ElemenTouch Periodic Table

Yoshiteru MAENO writes:

"I am a Physics Prof. at Kyoto University, Japan. My field of study is experimental superconductivity. I recently found the work by Schaltenbrand in 1920 on your website. One might say that Elementouch is a re-invention of Schaltenbrand's, but by arranging the element names helically on three cylinders, its usefulness has been improved":

System Québécium Periodic Table

Using Google Translate of this page:

"To establish a new classification system components, Pierre Demers was assumed that the electronic structure of the atom contains one of my all others according to the equation Z = 117 to Z = 1. It is taking my electrons and removing them from my material that can reproduce all the elements and thus repeat the structure of your table. That is why this new organization is called the System Québécium":

Denker's Cylinder With Bulges

John Denker fully discusses the logic behind a three dimensional periodic table that he describes as a "cylinder with bulges", here:

Elephant Periodic Table

The periodic table does not map to an elephant very well:

Click on the poster below to go to a large version:

Electronegativity Periodic Table

"This image distorts the conventional periodic table of the elements so that the greater the electronegativity of an atom, the higher its position in the table", here:

Two-Amphitheater Pyramid Periodic Table

From Chemical Education Journal (CEJ), Vol. 7, No. 2

A Novel Way of Visualization of the Periodic Table of the Elements by Alaa El-Deen Ali Mohamed, Alexandria University, Egypt.

The author writes:

"New form of the periodic table of the elements is given in this paper. This form can be seen as two amphitheater pyramids facing each other. The cubes that meet are s-elements (interior) then the p-elements then d-elements and the f-elements at last (exterior). The table can be represented by X-, Y- and Z-axes, where the Z-axis gives the number of the period that the element occupies. The table can be modeled by colored cubes helping in introducing the periodic table to the pupils early in the primary education."

Thanks to René for the tip!

Ukrainian Periodic Table

A Periodic Table from the Ukraine:

Bernard's Periodic Table of The Elements in Three Dimensional Form

Hinsdale Bernard's Periodic Table of The Elements in Three Dimensional Form, US Patent 7,297,000:

Roy Alexender, of the Desk Topper arrangement, has photoshopped a blurry photograph sent by Bernard along with a product mockup:

Rafael Poza Periodic Table (Click to Enlarge)

Pyramid Format Periodic Table

From Wikipedia, this Pyramid Format Periodic Table is Based on a graphic from Scholten J."Secret Lanthanides", 2005, ISBN 90-74817-16-5;

Bent's PlN and Ple (Front Step) Periodic Tables

In his book, New Ideas in Chemistry from Fresh Energy for the Periodic Law, here, Henry Bent introduces the PlN and Ple (Front Step) Periodic Tables, Figs 50 & 52:

Gyroscopic Periodic Table

From the Garuda Biodynamics web site: "The Gyroscopic Periodic Table has been a natural progression developed from a study of Soil Science, Dr Steiner's Agriculture and Medical Courses, Astronomy and Astrology."

Second Life Periodic Table

From the Useful Chemistry blog: "Further adding to the set of chemistry tools in Second Life, Hiro Sheridan has created a 3D periodic table with rotating atoms. Although not directly proportional, the relative sizes of the spheres are in the correct order. Clicking on them provides basic information about the corresponding element. The 3D periodic table is available on the Chemistry Corner on Drexel Island."

Bent & Weinhold's 2D/3D Periodic Tables

From a paper by Henry Bent & Frank Weinhold, J. Chem. Educ., 2007, 84, 7, 1145 and here. The authors write in the abstract:

"The periodic table epitomizes chemistry, and evolving representations of chemical periodicity should reflect the ongoing advances in chemical understanding. In this respect, the traditional Mendeleev-style table appears sub-optimal for describing a variety of important higher-order periodicity patterns that have become apparent in the post-Mendeleevian quantal era. In this paper we analyze the rigorous mathematical origins of chemical periodicity in terms of the quantal nodal features of atomic valence orbitals, and we propose a variety of alternative 2D/3D display symbols, tables, and models.":

Thanks to René for the tip!

Rafael Poza's Elements and the Magnetosphere

ADOMAH Tetrahedron

Valery Tsimmerman has developed various periodic table formulations, available at perfect perioidic table.com.

Tomás A. Carroll's Spherical & Russian Doll Formulations

Tomás A. Carroll has devised a spherical formulation of the Periodic Table, and from this a nested Russian Doll formulation.

Tomás writes: "I accept your veiled challenge that it is not possible to formulate a spherical periodic table and propose two solutions for your consideration. The EXCEL spreadsheet shows exactly how I transformed the quantum numbers from the standard 4D Cartesian coordinates to spherical coordinates in 3D, using two different centers. I included cylindrical coordinates too, just for fun."

Pyramid (Stack) Periodic Table

The Janet Periodic Table of Elements (1928) may be re-arranged as a series of square matrices.

The matrices are of different sizes and each matrix organizes the atomic orbitals into square concentric rings. Each cell may be assigned an atomic number which also identifies a “most significant electron”. The matrices may be stacked vertically to form a periodic Pyramid Stack of Elements as shown below.

The sub-atomic particles may also be arranged as square matrices. These matrices may be stacked. Read more here.

Please send your comments to: rick_kingstone777@hotmail.com 

Teluric Helix from Gutierrez Samanez

The Teluric Helix from Gutierrez Samanez is inspired by the telluric helix Chancortois (1864) with the difference that the sequence of the elements are rolled into a cone shape rather than a cylinder:

Nasco's Periodic Table Toss-Up Ball

Toss some fun around the classroom with this 15" inflatable ball challenging students to name 118 elements from the Periodic Table. Two or more players toss the ball to each other, giving the element name for the number and symbol on which their left thumb lands. Answer sheet and instructions included. Grade 6 to adult.

Russian MedFlower Periodic Table

Google Russian to English translation:

From Secology.Narod.RU: "Must also give up the basic heuristic principle of Mendeleev and follow him. Forget about the group, we will not argue with what period begins, but just consistently and continuously to build all the elements in a row in ascending order, and fold this series into a spatial helix, in the corporeal form, allowing the convergence of such chemical elements in the vertical..."

Steve Jensen's "In-Finite Form"

"I'm a figurative sculptor, living in Minneapolis MN. A few years ago, while looking at a two dimensional version of the periodic table, I too wondered if it would be possible to create a Periodic Table without any visual breaks in its numerical sequence. Although I had never seen anything other than the rectangular flat table, I thought I might be able to solve this spatial continuity problem three dimensionally. I also wanted to limit myself to using a 3-D "line" that had no sudden changes in direction. After coming up with what I thought was a new and unique sculptural resolution, I put the project aside. Only recently (after re-building my paper model out of a translucent material) did I do some research on the web, and immediately recognized the strong likeness between my version and the Alexander Arrangement. Even more surprising was my models' visual similarity to Crookes' figure eight design from some 111 years ago.

"Although there are obviously many inventive and well thought out responses to this design challenge, I believe that my solution is a unique one, and an improvement over some of the previous three dimensional forms. The "line" of my model allows for contiguous numerical placement of all the symbols (while maintaining group continuity along its vertical axis), even as the shape of its plan view makes visual reference to the well-known symbol for infinity. What's more, in my version, the Lanthanide & Actinide series do not occupy a separate field but are fully integrated into the continuous linear flow. This piece, which I've entitled "In-Finite Form" speaks to the mystery of the endless flow of space, even as it folds back onto itself within the confines of a finite system."

Steve Jensen ©September 2009

Graphic Representations of the Periodic System

Mary E. Saecker writes an article in Chemical Education Digital Library, Periodic Table Presentations and Inspirations: Graphic Representations of the Periodic System, that reviews some periodic table formunations.

The paper contains a link to this pdf file which gives templates and instructions for several print, cut-out & build periodic table formulations:

Supplement to: Periodic Table Presentations and Inspirations by Mary E. Saecker, J. Chem. Educ., 2009, 86, 1151.

Construction Directions A Cut-Out Chart of the Periodic System (Periodic Table Cylinder)

3-D Strange Periodic Table

As Lewis Page of The Register puts it: "Top flight international reverse-alchemy boffins say they have managed to transmute gold into an entirely new form of 'negatively strange' antihypernucleic antimatter...", here.

The effect is to add a third dimension of quark strangeness to the periodic table. Read the abstract by the STAR Collaboration.

Epicylindrical Periodic Table

An Epicylindrical Periodic Table by Steven Fowkes, who writes: "All the twist is confined to the s orbitals, 1/2 slant x 2 elements = one period lower."  

Published in the Reed College Alumni Magazine March 2010.

Harrington Projection for The 270 AMU Structure

From Bill Harrington, Founder/CTO of Rainforest Reactor Research and Temporal Dynamics Laboratory, comes a Harrington Projection for The 270 AMU Structure :

Weise's Tetrahedron

Dmitry Weise shows how it is possible to go from the Janet [left-step] periodic table formulation, to a tetrahedral formulation.

Dmitry writes:

"Three-dimensional table of the periodic law can be constructed in the form of a tetrahedron having an inner order. A comparison of the tetrahedron shells and the table of elements shows, that one tetrahedron shell corresponds to 4 periods of the 2D table."

Jess Tauber adds:

"The spheres here also aren't labeled, but I explain how they get labeled in the text accompanying the pic.  Each such period (except for s-only, which are obviously simpler) we have a 'switchback' configuration. Like a road going up a mountain back and forth to minimize verticality, or a parachute folded into a pack. There are 8 different ways to do this (4 basic types in 2 chirally opposite mappings). And the original Weise-style non-continuous tetrahedron is just another way to organize half tetrahedra."

Bayeh's Theoretical Periodic Table of Elements

"The modern periodic table is based on quantum numbers and blocks, many problems faced the scientists and researchers when arranging the elements in the traditional and modern periodic tables as placing some elements in the incorrect place as (He) Helium, (La) Lanthanide and many others elements..." read the full pdf article here:

Bayeh's Theoretical 3D Periodic Tables

From Bayeh Claude: "I have designed these periodic tables as developments of Bayeh's Theoretical Periodic Table, but I have introduced new shapes and 3D versions":

• Crocodile Periodic Table
• Ship Periodic Table
• Snake Periodic Table
• Spiral Periodic Table
• Spiral rectangular Periodic Table
• Spiral triangular Periodic Table

Stowe-Janet-Scerri Periodic Table

Eric Scerri made contact, writing: "Following the discussions on Periodic Table debate on the Chemistry Views website here, and as a result of recent turns, I have developed a new periodic table which I believe combines virtues of the Stowe table and also the Janet left-step table. I propose the name Stowe-Janet-Scerri Periodic Table. The explanation is posted on the Chemistry Views debate pages.

Aldersley 3D Periodic Table

A Three Dimensional Periodic Table by Michael F. Aldersley, U.S. Patent 7,938,646 2B

Pacholek's Multipipe 3D Periodic Table

"I've recently invented a new type of periodic table. My table is 3-dimensional and is similar to the ADOMAH Periodic Table, but it's also very different from the ADOMAH Tetrahedron. Its main advantage is being fully geometric in the plane spanned by n, l and n+l quantum numbers."

Take a look at the Picasa images here and here:

Alashvili Rotating Spherical Periodikal Tabel

A nice rotating, spherical (3-D) periodic table by Tornike Alashvili, from Georgia, which can be viewed here as a .swf image:

Normal vs Correction Shell "Pi Paradox" for 1-270 AMUs

From Bill Harrington, Founder/CTO of Rainforest Reactor Research and Temporal Dynamics Laboratory, comes a Normal vs Correction Shell "Pi Paradox" for 1-270 AMUs:

Alexander Arrangement of Elements, 3D Illustrated

The design of the 2012 Alexander Arrangement of Elements (AAE) follows the principles of a three-dimensional model developed by Roy Alexander in 1965: a printed representation of element information based on strict adherence to the Periodic Law, with every element data box physically and visually contiguous and continuous within the sequence of atomic numbers in generally accepted element property related columns - "...the periodic table the way it's supposed to be".

This is made possible by wrapping, folding, and joining the printed material and employing the patented p-block downslant of the element data boxes to allow the end element of a period to be adjacent to the first element of the next period.

Several unique features separate it from the previous four versions of the AAE

• The visual effect mirrors the look of Theodore Gray's series of posters, books, element cards and periodictable.com website and apps for the Apple iPod and iPad.
• Each element box is dominated by a Theodore Gray element photograph, with the element name, letter symbol, and atomic number relatively large, often overlapping the photo.
• The period numbers (below, right) are printed at the interface of the end/beginning of the periods, folded 90 degrees on the model, and the blocks and columns (old & new numbers), are identified below the data boxes - and in the case of the Actinoids, above.

• The element blocks connect at a central nexus (below, center), with the d- and f-blocks leaving, looping, and returning there, thus allowing the shorter period gaps above to be closed. For best visibility of the element data, these loops pinch together near the intersection. The p-block bends in a half-circle to join the s-block at the corner described above, with a patented 'downslant' where the element boxes gracefully sweep down a full box height (above) within this block to allow elimination of the "carriage return" effect: each period ending on the row above the next.

• The extended Hydrogen data box, a characteristic of all Alexander Arrangements, is more extended in this model, reaching for the multiple positions of the H box that are still under discussion among experts. The extra-extended Hydrogen box, illustrated by a composite image of a hydrogen cloud in space, (above, right) loops over the s- and p-blocks. Starting up from behind the corner of Helium & Lithium, inside the half-helical tube to loop over Helium, attach above Lithium, Beryllium and then Carbon as the loop descends (joining the ascending portion) over the data boxes of the s- & p-blocks, terminating in contact with Fluorine, Neon, and corner-on to Neon.
• The model size is the same as the previous Display Version of the AAE, but has fewer element data boxes, due to there being no photos of the lab created elements and for simplification of the educational application - introduction to property periodicity and organization of element data - the elements with atomic numbers over 94 are not included (see addendum).
• Where the f-block begins and ends, between Barium and Lutetium, the f-block is held perpendicular to the only flat segment of the element display by a pair of triangular braces, which also create the flat area, aligning the s-block with the 'pinch' of the d-block. This is particularly apparent from the bottom, when the model is supported from above. (see below)

Designed by Roy Alexander, a science museum exhibit and teaching aid designer, the Adobe Illustrator art for the model was started by Ann Grafelman, and continued by Roy from mid 2011 through November of 2012.

Photos were provided by Theodore Gray, and Element Collection funded the printing and die cutting performed by Strine Printing in York, Pennsylvania. The model kit was first offered at Theo's PeriodicTable.com, then at Roy's AllPeriodicTables.com and the new 3dPeriodicTable.com, which site is dedicated to the 3D Forever Periodic Table only, with add-ons, application suggestions, and descriptions and commentary of all sorts.

Assembly instructions and step photos, as well as a number or completed model color photographs are included with the kit. These were developed with prototype models, and while functional, have been upgraded and accompanied by an assembly video at AlexanderArrangementOfElements.com/3D

Addendum:

Text relating to the abbreviation of the ever increasing number of elements is explained at two places on the 3D AAE illustrated periodic table model kit. One will remain with the model and one is removed at the time of assembly.

That which remains runs under the Actinoids and the d-block elements, where the lab created elements might ordinarily be expected to be found, says:

The lab created elements ordinarily found in this part of a periodic table are not to be found in nature, there can be no photographs of them, so nothing needs to be added to this element photo periodic table - ever - so it will never be obsolete, a Forever Periodic Table.

That which is removed says:

Naturally-occurring elements have been numbered variously, generally between 80 and 96, all for cogent scientific reasons.

For easier teaching and learning, we have included on this periodic table only the 92 elements actually currently existing on Earth and in the remainder of the Universe, and adding Technetium and Promethium, which, although they may have no stable forms, serve to fill what would otherwise be gaps in the sequence.

Not added for practical and educational reasons are 'elements' consisting only of pages and pages of computer data from smashing atoms in particle accelerators. Another reason is that there can be no photographs of them to show, and as a result, your arrangement is complete and never be obsolete - your Forever Periodic Table.

Included with the art of the periodic table on the die cut substrate that makes up the model is some background information about the the history of three dimensional periodic tables.

The first of these is about the discoverer of the concept of arranging the elements in periods suggested by the properties of the elements, de Chancourtois.

The second 3D periodic table information piece (on the rear of the de Chancourtois removable card) are sketches of a number of the 3D periodic tables found on the Chemogenesis website.

4D Stowe-Janet-Scerri Periodic Table

By Jgmoxness who writes:

"I've replaced the standard periodic table in the 7th "Chemistry Pane" of my E8 visualizer with a 2D/3D/4D Stowe-Janet-Scerri version of the Periodic Table.

"Interestingly, it has 120 elements, which is the number of vertices in the 600 Cell or the positive half of the 240 E8 roots. It is integrated into VisibLie_E8 so clicking on an element adds that particular atomic number's E8 group vertex number to the 3rd E8 visualizer pane.

"The code is a revision and extension of Enrique Zeleny's Wolfram Demonstration":

3D Left Step Periodic Table

By Masahiko Suenaga, Kyushu University, Japan a 3D Left Step Periodic Table.

"Inspired by the work of Dr. Tsimmerman and Dr. Samanez, I have created a new 3D Left Step Periodic Table, which resembles to Mt. Fuji, recently registered as a World Heritage site. For more information, please visit my website":

Bernard Periodic Spiral

The Bernard Periodic Spiral of the Elements (BPSE), depicts a novel rendition of the Periodic Table that replaces the flat rectangular format with a continuous unidirectional spiral that maintains all the properties of Group and Period formation.

Comparisons may be made with similar models spanning the last three decades of the 20th century (Alexander, 1971; Mazurs, 1974; & Kaufman, 1999).

In the chart form, this new rendition is referred to as the Elliptical Periodic Chart of the Elements. In the three-dimensional form, the model resembles a Christmas tree in shape with the 7 Periods represented as circular platforms situated at various levels with the elements placed appropriately at the outer edges of each of these platforms as a Period builds up. The elements may be represented as spherical objects or flat discs with radii proportionate to atomic radii (or reasonable approximations). Color schemes accentuate the four different Blocks of elements: the s-Block (green), the p-Block (blue, with the exception that the last Group is red signifying the end of a Period), d-Block (orange), and the f-Block (yellow). The grey section, called the Group-Period Interchange, is where the end of a particular Period connects to the beginning of the next Period, and, at the same time, transitions from Group 18 to Group 1.

Watch the video here:

Thanks to Eric Scerri for the tip!
See the website EricScerri.com and Eric's Twitter Feed.

Model Wooden Periodic Table

From here, and translated from Spanish:

Among the events commemorating the 75th anniversary of the creation of the School of Treball, the author of this site, B. Navarro, along with J. Semis and J. Gràcia have built a model wooden periodic table.

The table has been divided into 5 areas: representative elements, noble gases, transition elements, rare earths and finally the groups I and II of alkali and alkaline earth together. Each of these areas of the table is made with a different type of wood. The block transition elements is made with oak, ash noble gases, representative elements in cherry, sapele the rare earth and alkali/alcalinoterros beechwood.

The central idea of the model is that each element is represented by a cube of 3 cm edge so that you can see on all sides, from left to right or right to left without losing the order of increasing atomic number or the relative position of the elements:

Atomic Periodic Town

Three related formulations by Baha Tangour (Tangour Bahoueddine), the Atomic Town and two Boomerang periodic tables.

Baha says: "The propositions are different representation of a 3D dimensions that depend on three properties (spectral term multiplicity, lone-pairs and period number)":

Periodic Pyramid

The Periodic Pyramid by Jennifer N. Hennigan and W. Tandy Grubbs, J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 8, 1003-1008, https://doi.org/10.1021/ed3007567.

"The chemical elements present in the modern periodic table are arranged in terms of atomic numbers and chemical periodicity. Periodicity arises from quantum mechanical limitations on how many electrons can occupy various shells and subshells of an atom. The shell model of the atom predicts that a maximum of 2, 8, 18, and 32 electrons can occupy the shells identified by the principle quantum numbers n = 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

The numbers 2, 8, 18, and 32 are shown in this work to be related to the triangular numbers from mathematical number theory. The relationship to the triangular numbers, in turn, suggests an alternate method for arranging elements in terms of periodicity. The resulting three-dimensional 'periodic pyramid' is highly symmetric in shape. Just as is true in the modern periodic table, each layer of the periodic pyramid can be separated into shell and subshell contributions. Examining the pyramid's structure is arguably a pedagogically useful activity for college-level introductory or physical chemistry students, as it provides an opportunity to further ponder the shell model of the atom and the origins of periodicity. The connections to number theory are used to show that the outermost subshell of a given shell contains (2n – 1) orbitals."

ADOMAH Periodic Table Glass Cube

Valery Tsimmerman, of the ADOMAH Periodic Table and the ADOMAH Tetrahedron, has now used these ideas to produce a beautiful glass cube:

This amazing object is available for sale from Grand Illusions:

A Note by Philip Stewart stewart.phi@gmail.com

The cube represents 120 chemical elements etched into a cube of Optical Crystal glass. The s, p, d, and f blocks of the Janet periodic table form four rectangles, which are slices of a regular tetrahedron, parallel with two of its edges and with two faces of the circumscribed cube. All four quantum numbers are made visible in this arrangement. You can see a 2-D version on the Perfect Periodic Table website, click on the "skyscraper" version on the right to see the tetrahedron, and go to Regular Tetrahedron at foot of page for details.

The regular tetrahedron is the only form in which slices are rectangles of different shape and identical perimeter. When each orbital is represented by a square of unit edge, the rectangles representing the blocks all have the same perimeter, which is twice the length of the edges of the tetrahedron (which are of course √2 times the edges of the cube): 18 units = 2(values of n + values of m_l).

Valery Tsimmerman, orahct@gmail.com, creator of the design, has written to me as follows:

"I just had some thoughts about the Perimeter Rule that is at the basis of the tetrahedral arrangement. Dimensions of the blocks are dictated by number of values of ml and number of values of n. We know that n governs quantization of energy. Recently I learned that quantization of the possible orientations of L with respect to an external magnetic field is often referred to as space quantization. (Serway, Jewett: Physics for Scientists and Engineers. 6th edition. p.1369).

"That is, m_l stands for space quantization. Therefore, the Perimeter Rule reflects a direct relationship between energy and space. I think that this could have some significance. The beautiful thing about the Universe is that each type of symmetry is related to some conservation law. Symmetry in time is related to energy. Therefore, n is related to time also, so, in the Perimeter Rule we have relationship between time and space on quantum numerical level. The interesting thing is that m_l can be positive and negative, while n can only be positive. Similarly, things can move in space in positive and negative directions, but time has only one direction. There is no negative time, just as there are no negative values of quantum number n."

Adomah is a variant of Adamah, Hebrew for 'dust of the earth', from which Adam was made (Genesis 2:7).

Gutierrez Samanez's Binodic Form of the Periodic Table (Video)

Rogue Elements: What's Wrong with the Periodic Table

An article in New Scientist by Celeste Biever (news editor at Nature), Image by Martin Reznik

Weights gone awry, elements changing position, the ructions of relativity – chemistry's iconic chart is far from stable, and no one knows where it will end

IF IMITATION is the sincerest form of flattery, the periodic table has many true admirers. Typefaces, types of meat and even the Muppets have been ordered in its image. For chemists, knowing an element's position in the periodic table, and the company it keeps, is still the most reliable indicator of its properties – and a precious guide in the search for new substances. "It rivals Darwin's Origin of Species in terms of the impact of bringing order out of chaos," says Peter Edwards of the University of Oxford.

The origins of the periodic table lie in the 19th century, when chemists noticed that patterns began to emerge among the known chemical elements when they... click here to continue:

UVS Periodic Tables

From the Universal Vortical Singularity (UVS) website, two related formunations from the nucleosynthesis in the universe section, one showing a "manifold dual-core 3-sphere hypersphere topology", and the other showing a "dual-core Möbius strip topology":

Arrangement of Elements 7th Order & Element Sequences

An exploration of some mathematics underlying the periodic table, read the PDF here, by Olivier Joseph.

Oliver says:

"May I propose you the following pattern, as the result of a personal study concerning the arrangement of the Elements, including sequences. Based on some hypothesis and as depicted in the enclosed illustrations, the elements are positioned according to a spiral function of atomic number and atomic mass, representation in 2D in a spiral form pattern, or in 3D conical helix model.

"The elements are numbered and placed consecutively along this spiral according to a specific angle, appropriately established between each element, forming a seven arm spiral pattern. With such an angle, specifically defined, a link is established between the various elements of a same group (corresponding to chemical elements with similar properties) and different layers. These latter becoming distributed among each arm of the spiral in a notable arranged way."

UVS Periodic Table Model of a Klein Bottle Topology

This configuration can topologically suggest the g-block cycle in the 8th period for extended periodic table.

In the Klein bottle topology as illustrated, it is plausible that after the s-block cycle in the 8th periodical cycle, the topological path continues to spiral around the outer f-block cycle to harmonically form 14 elements.

And then subjected to the spiral Möbius strip topological twist, it could resonate to form 4 more elements in the anti-cyclonic path around 17th, 18th, 1st, and 2nd angular phases of the anti-cyclonic core; this would render the 18 elemental positions for the hypothetical g-block cycle in the entire half-integral anti-cyclonic cycle of the Klein bottle topology.

Hypothetically, the topological path then moves into the cyclonic cycle, and harmonically forms its d-block and p-block cycles with 16 elemental positions to complete the 8th periodical cycle with a total of 36 elements.

Pams Quantum Periodic Table

By Dr. N. D. Raju, the Pams Quantum Periodic Table. Read the full paper discussing the logic of the new formulation.

Instructables 3D Periodic Table

From Makendo on the Instructables website:

The first periodic table was developed in 1862 by a French geologist called Alexandre-Émile Béguyer de Chancourtois. He plotted the elements on a cylinder with a circumference of 16 units, and noted the resulting helix placed elements with similar properties in line with each other. But his idea - which he called the "Telluric Spiral" (see here), because the element tellurium was near the middle - never caught on, perhaps because it was published in a geology journal unread by chemists, and because de Chancourtois failed to include the diagram and described the helix as a square circle triangle.

Mendeleev got all the glory, and it is his 1869 version (dramatically updated, but still recognizable) that nearly everyone uses today.

This instructable [project] documents my efforts to reimagine a 3D periodic table of the elements, using modern making methods. It's based on the structure of a chiral nanotube, and is made from a 3D printed lattice, laser cut acrylic, a lazy susan bearing, 118 sample vials and a cylindrical lamp.

Kurushkin's Spiral Periodic Table

Mikhail Kurushkin has a way of constructing the standard long form periodic table from the Janet Left-Step formulation.

Mikhail writes in his J.Chem.Educ paper DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00242; J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94, 976?979

"Addition of another s-block to the left of the left-step periodic table [enables it] to be rolled into a spiral so that the left and right s-blocks are merged together and the number of elements is exactly 118. The resulting periodic table is called the "spiral" periodic table, which is the fundamental representation of periodicity":

Stowe's A Physicist's Periodic Table UPDATED

Stowe's 'A Physicist's Periodic Table' was published in 1989, and is a famous & well respected formulation of the periodic table.

Since 1989 quite a number of elements have been discovered and Jeries A. Rihani has produced an updated and extended version. Click here to see the full size .pdf version:

Clock Prism Periodic Table, Braille Version

From the prolific Nagayasu Nawa, a Braille version of the Clock Prism periodic table:

Stewart's Chemosphere

P J Stewart, a good friend of the periodic table database, has mapped a PT onto a sphere.

PJS writes: "It is Janet Rajeuni 2014  wrapped round a sphere, going back to Mazurs 1965, and Tsimmerman 2006.  Arabic numerals indicate shells (values of principal quantum number); Roman numerals indicate periods."

Stowe-Janet-Scerri Periodic Table (Extended)

Stowe's A Physicist's Periodic Table was published in 1989, and is a famous & well respected formulation of the periodic table.

Since 1989 quite a number of elements have been discovered and Jeries A. Rihani has produced an updated and extended version in 2017. This has been further updated, below. Click for the full size .pdf version:

Nawa's 3-D Octagonal Pillar

A 3-D octagonal pillar periodic table model by Nawa, "acccording to Scerri's reverse engineering [of] Mendeleev's 8-column table":

Telluric Remix

Philip Stewart writes:

The Telluric Helix (La Vis Tellurique) was the first graphic representation of the periodic system of the elements, conceived as a spiral wound round a cylinder. It was designed in 1862 by Alexandre-Émile Béguyer de Chancourtois, a French mineralogist. 'Telluric' is from Latin tellus, earth, recalling the 'earths', oxides, in which many elements had been discovered.

My 'Telluric Remix' is a return to the cylinder. It combines ideas from Charles Janet (8, not 7, periods, ending with ns2, defined by a constant sum of the first two quantum numbers, n and l), Edward Mazurs (all members of each electron shell in the same row) and Valery Tsimmerman, (a half square per element).

• The Telluric Remix is topologically the same as my 'Janet Rajeuni' and 'Chemosphere': it maintains the continuous sequence of atomic numbers with the help of arrows, which cascade down, displaying graphically the Janet [Madelung] rule for the order of subshell filling.
• I have placed the s block in the centre to emphasise its pivotal nature and so that there is no question of whether it belongs on the left or on the right. Every shell (Arabic numeral) and every period (Roman numeral) ends with ns², but the ns electrons combine with f, d or p electrons of elements in the succeeding period to make their valence shells, until ns²+np⁶, which forms a noble gas. Helium, He, is also noble with a complete n=1 shell and no 1p⁶.
• Noble gases are marked G. Groups are numbered sequentially within each block, and in general the xth member of the series has x electrons in the subshell. Exceptions are shown by a small d (or two) in the corner, signifying that a d electron replaces an s electron in the d block or an f electron in the f block (note also p in Lr). This makes it easy to determine the electronic structure of each element.
• Click here for a larger version.

The printable version is available (click here for the full size version) to make your own:

I have not claimed copyright; please copy and share but acknowledge my authorship. stewart.phi@gmail.com

Sistema Periódico Binodico

By Julio Antonio Gutiérrez Samanez, who writes:

"Sistema Periódico Binodico. Nuevo Paradigma Matematizado. I have followed the work of the wise Mendeleev, of Emil de Chancourtois, of Charles Janet; inspired by the work of my countryman Dr. Oswaldo Baca Mendoza. It is in Spanish but soon I will have the English version."

Periodical System (Binodic Form): a new mathematical paradigm

By Julio Antonio Gutiérrez Samanez, who writes:

"System devised and prepared by the Peruvian chemical engineer, Julio Antonio Gutiérrez Samanez, deals with a new conception of Mendeleev's Law as a mathematical function and a new description of the process of forming the series of chemical elements according to mathematical laws and dialectical processes of changes quantitative and qualitative under a dynamic spiral architecture in 3D, which is postulated as a new scientific paradigm."

Elements in Six Dimensions

The Elements in Six Dimensions, by Gerald Eadie, arranged by volume periods of nuclide mass averages:

Simpson's 4-Dimensional Version of the ADOMAH Periodic Table

Doug Simpson writes:

"Valery Tsimmerman's ADOMAH table and website got me started as a periodic table hobbyist. The attached photos show what I've been up to. Valery's observation that n, l, & m conspire to generate a half-filled tetrahedral lattice inspired me to create a 4D periodic table using all four quantum numbers as coordinates."

Frog Periodic Table

One of the frogs from Stockport's (UK) Giant Leap Frog Art Trail. This frog is Chemit.

Thanks to Helen P for the tip!

Ossmi LH & Chasib's Periodic Table

By Dr Laith Al- ossmi, Thi-qar University, Iraq: Al Ossmi LH & Chasib K F, A New Method of Elements Arrangement to Reattach the F–Block Elements of Lanthanides and Actinides in the IUPAC's Periodic Table of Elements, Med & Analy Chem Int J, 3, 4,2019, pp 1–18. DOI 10.23880/macij-16000148

The new 3-dimantional layout of the periodic table graphically shows the main body parts of the table and also these vertical and horizontal coordinators of Periods, Groups, and Nadas.

Scott Van Note Periodic Table Sculpture

On the Saatchi Art website, a 3D periodic table Sculpture by Scott Van Note.

Sculpture: Metal (Bronze). Ten made for the local ASM international chapter.

Loops and changes of direction show electron shell filling. S,P,D,F with S just a change of direction. Continuous spiral from top to bottom. New loops introduce as the electron shell would. Does not show the out-of-order shell filling.

Keywords: periodic,   science,   sculpture,   functional,   nerd

Thanks to Roy Alexander for the tip!

Alexander Arrangement Unwrapped... and Rewrapped

In mid-2019 Roy Alexander – of the Alexander Arrangement – produced an intriguing new formulation in sketch form that shows the p, d & f blocks moving away from the s block in three dimensional space:

Roy has now expanded this into a full blown new formulation. (Click image to enlarge):

Weise's Tetrahedral Periodic Table

A Facebook video by Dmitry Weise showing how the conventional periodic table can be morphed into a tetrahedral formulation via the Janet Left Step:

Thanks to Eric Scerri – who appears – for the tip! 
See the website EricScerri.com and Eric's Twitter Feed.

Cylindrical Periodic Table of Elements

Two YouTube videos by Takehiko Ishiguro (original & updated): Cylindrical Periodic Table of Elements.

Three types of the cylindrical periodic table of elements are demonstrated with a rotating table. Comments on them are given at the end of the video (in English).

The Japanese version is here.

ElementBook Braille version of the AAE

From Roy Alexander of the AAE (Alexander Arrangement of the Elements):

"My [first] contribution to celebrate this Year of the Periodic Table is to reach out to folks who have yet to see what everyone's talking about, so they can get the feel of it: a 3D periodic table in Braille."

For the premise for this PT, here.

For your own model (with Braille) of the ElementBook: print*, cut out each part at the outside blue lines, etc.

The ElementBook Braille version of the AAE is in the beta-test phase for the rest of the year, so if any of you know of an aspiring chemist who would be willing to use it while learning (and keep me informed of that experience all year) send them to www.chemicalelementsystem.com/braille/

Telluric Remix in Colour

Philip Stewart writes (this is the same text that accompanies the 2018 B/W version):

The Telluric Helix (La Vis Tellurique) was the first graphic representation of the periodic system of the elements, conceived as a spiral wound round a cylinder. It was designed in 1862 by Alexandre-Émile Béguyer de Chancourtois, a French mineralogist. 'Telluric' is from Latin tellus, earth, recalling the 'earths', oxides, in which many elements had been discovered.

My 'Telluric Remix' is a return to the cylinder. It combines ideas from Charles Janet (8, not 7, periods, ending with ns2, defined by a constant sum of the first two quantum numbers, n and l), Edward Mazurs (all members of each electron shell in the same row) and Valery Tsimmerman, (a half square per element).

• The Telluric Remix is topologically the same as my 'Janet Rajeuni' and 'Chemosphere': it maintains the continuous sequence of atomic numbers with the help of arrows, which cascade down, displaying graphically the Janet [Madelung] rule for the order of subshell filling.
• I have placed the s block in the centre to emphasise its pivotal nature and so that there is no question of whether it belongs on the left or on the right. Every shell (Arabic numeral) and every period (Roman numeral) ends with ns², but the ns electrons combine with f, d or p electrons of elements in the succeeding period to make their valence shells, until ns²+np⁶, which forms a noble gas. Helium, He, is also noble with a complete n=1 shell and no 1p⁶.
• Noble gases are marked G. Groups are numbered sequentially within each block, and in general the xth member of the series has x electrons in the subshell. Exceptions are shown by a small d (or two) in the corner, signifying that a d electron replaces an s electron in the d block or an f electron in the f block (note also p in Lr). This makes it easy to determine the electronic structure of each element.
• Click here for a larger version (pdf).

I have not claimed copyright; please copy and share but acknowledge my authorship. stewart.phi@gmail.com

Grainger's Elemental Periodicity with "Concentric Spheres Intersecting Orthogonal Planes" Formulation

From Tony Grainger, an Elemental Periodicity formulation with concentric spheres intersecting orthogonal planes.

Tony writes:

"I hand sketched this periodic table about a decade ago and placed it on my cubicle window at UTAS, with minimal comments from work mates. It bears some similarity to other formulations in the database, especially when cut along the left axis and laid flat. The concept of all elements of a period being aligned along orthogonal planes cutting a sphere was inherent in the original sketch. When I began using SVG about five years ago I realised I could draw this as a real projection of the 3D model. It was on the back burner, until I found the original sketch during a tidy up."

There are two images of this 3D formulation: an "inside_corner_below/outside_corner_above" (top image) and an "outside_corner_below/inside_corner_above" lower image.

• The "inside corner below" is like looking at the junction of a floor and two walls in the corner of a room.
• The "outside corner above" is like looking up at the underside of an overhanging corner of a building.
• The "outside corner below" is like looking down on the corner of a large box.
• The "inside corner above" is like looking at the junction of walls and a ceiling in a room.

Schaltenbrand's Helical Gathering of the Elements

From the RSC Website:

"A glistering, shining spiral made of silver, gold, platinum, palladium and a diamond forms the show-stopping apex of the tribute from the University of Cambridge's St Catharine's college to the International Year of the Periodic Table.

"Commissioned to match George Schaltenbrand's 1920 design for a helical gathering of the elements – albeit extended to all 118 current elements – and signed by Yuri Oganessian, it is almost certainly the most expensive periodic table in the world."

Thanks to Eric Scerri for the tip!
See the website EricScerri.com and Eric's Twitter Feed.

Stewart's Quantahedron Formulation

From Philip Stewart, here & here, comes a three dimensional Quantahedron Formulation.

Philip writes:

"The Quantahedron is based on Tsimmerman's Adomah cube, realised in transparent plastic, in the usual order in which Z values are read, printed on separable blocks so that it can be assembled."

Nuclear Periodic Table

A nuclear periodic table by Kouichi Hagino & Yoshiteru Maeno from Kyoto University published in Foundations of Chemistry here & here (open access).

"Elements with proton magic-number nuclei are arranged on the right-most column, just like the noble-gas elements in the familiar atomic periodic table.

"The periodic properties of the nuclei, such as their stability and deformation from spherical shape, are illustrated in the table. Interestingly, there is a fortuitous resemblance in the alignments of the elements: a set of the elements with the magic number nuclei 50(Sn), 82(Pb) and Fl(114) also appears as the group 14 elements in the atomic periodic table. Thanks to this coincidence, there are similarities in the alignments beyond 41(Nb) (e.g., Nb-Ta-Db or La-Ac in the same columns) in both the nuclear and atomic periodic tables of the elements.

"Related documents can be found: http://www.ss.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp/elementouch/index.html

Gierałtowski's Periodic Rotation Table

Sent by Tomasz Gierałtowski from Poland. There is no information, but Tomasz has provided construction diagrams for each period. Click the links to see these:

• Period 1
• Period 2
• Period 3
• Period 4
• Period 5
• Period 6a
• Period 6b
• Period 7a
• Period 7b
• Periodic Rotation Table

Rainbow Periodic Table in ADOMAH Cube

From the prolific Nagayasu Nawa, a version of his Rainbow Periodic Table inside Valery Tsimmerman's glass cube:

Cubical-Stair Periodic Table

Sarthak Gupta's Cubical-Stair Periodic Table (Into a Whole New Dimension):

"Looking at the Modern periodic Table, somethings always bug you. The huge gap between the s and p-block when they should be side by side. The whole f-block floating around in air when it should be there in period 6 and 7. So why not experiment with shapes and structures and come up with something more space efficient?

"The cubical Periodic table paves the way taking the periodic table into a whole new dimension. Yes! from the 118 squares, we are going to transition into 67 cubes stacked onto each other like stairs."

The Cubical-Stair Periodic Table Explained:

• The table is made up of 67 cubes stacked onto each other, having three sides exposed(top, left and right)
• The top faces contain s and p-block elements
• The left side faces contain d block and right side faces contain f block
• There are two different Major Groups: A and B
• Major Group A is divided into 14 minor groups (from -1 to 12) and Major group B is divided into 8 minor groups (from 3 to 12)
• Major Group A applies to s, p & f-block. Major Group B is exclusively for d-block.
• To go down a group we follow the arrow and descend the stair in the given direction

Advantage over the Modern PT

• Although being 3 dimensional, it can be easily represented in 2 dimensions in the form of trisected hexagons
• All the elements of the same period lie in the same line (unlike MPT where f-block elements had to be depicted separately due to lack of space).
• Viewing the table from 3 different directions makes only one or two blocks visible:

  1. From top: s & p-block
  2. From left: d-block
  3. From right: f-block

• This helps in diffrentiating between the blocks easily
• The disturbing gap between s and p-block of traditional periodic table is not simply there. All advantages of Modern Periodic Table remain conserved.

Rolled-up Version of Benfey's Periodic System

Rolled-up Version of Benfey's Periodic System by Julio Antonio Gutiérrez Samanez. More on the YouTube video here.

Kaleidocycle of the Periodic Table

Pablo Cassinello provides a "Three-dimensional figure to improve the didactics of the Periodic Table", a Kaleidocycle of the Periodic Table.

There is a full article about this dynamic, three dimensional formulation in Pablo's blog in Chem Ed Xchange, including instructions on how to make the object.

Pablo writes:

"A kaleidocycle has four different faces, each one made of a juxtaposition of rhombuses. By turning it you can easily choose one of the four faces. On these, four different pictures can be displayed. In this three-dimensional figure of the periodic table are the elements organized in four blocks according to their final electronic structure. It is intended that students with this playful figure actively participate in classes by rotating their kaleidocycle looking for the groups or elements that are being studied. The entire periodic table fits in one palm of their hands. It is also a didactic device because students only focus their attention on one block or group of elements from the entire Periodic Table. It can be a more entertaining, motivating and exciting way of learning about the subject of the Periodic Table."

Thanks to René for the tip!

Kudan's 3D Model of The Periodic Table

Pavel V. Kudan's 3D model of the Periodic Table via direct download.

Parvel writes:

"The shape of this 3D model allows to show most important thing – H may be aligned over F-Ts and He may be aligned over Ne-Og without classification of H to group F-Ts or He to group Ne-Og. To see that it is needed only that cylinder to be tough (hard) and flat parts to be flexible with ability to change angle. Than is important because according Mendeleev’s principle, maximum valence is main for grouping elements and it is controversial to have element with maximum valence 2 between elements with maximum valence 8.

"Coloring He as gray in the 3D model just reflex the fact that it goes just before the energy gap, as well as coloring Ne-Og in gray show that they too go just before the energy gaps, which makes He and Ne-Og noble. The main is not coloring, but the ability to align and demonstrate.

"You may also remember that the issue of opening the new IUPAC Group 2 project to discuss He group as a continuation of the IUPAC Group 3 project has already been raised in e-mail correspondence with IUPAC some time ago in protection of our reconstruction of Landau’s geometry of the Periodic table.

"I agree with you that double periodicity is important, but also rearrangements of electronic configurations caused by properties of d-orbitals also must be taken in account. For example, Cu has valences 1 or 2, Zn has valence 2 due to special properties of d-orbitals. The 3D model of the Periodic table separates the ability of d-orbitals to steel electrons from s-orbitals and f-orbitals causing of such effects.

"Also when you will have a copy of the 3D model you will see that it unifies both geometry of the Mendeleev’s Periodic table and geometry of the Janet’s Periodic table. Following anticlockwise you may see Mendeleev’s order while following clockwise you may see Janet’s order. It is similar to having the 3D moles of globe as visual aid for better vision of Mendeleev’s Periodic table and Janet’s Periodic table as flat detailed maps."

Cylindrical Periodic Table with Seven Vertical Columns

The Cylindrical Periodic Table with Seven Vertical Columns by Laith H. M. Al-ossmi, College of Engineering, University of Thi-Qar, Iraq; Thi-Qar University Pres. Read the full paper here.

Abstract: In this article, a new model of the periodic table in cylindrical form wrapped around its outer circumference is presented, departing from the traditional periodic table of elements adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The cylinder is designed to encompass seven periodic periods, with elements distributed throughout based on their atomic order. This design allows for six vertical columns on the surface of the cylinder to represent the distribution of elements.

Dynamic, Formulation Morphing, 3-Dimensional, Web App Periodic Table

A really nice, data filled, dynamic, 3D web-app periodic table by Morishita, a Japanese software engineer living in Vietnam: https://periodic-table-3d.vercel.app

All of the information here: https://periodic-table-3d.vercel.app/posts/shapes-of-periodic-table

Dufour’s Elementree in 2D by Vernon

A 2 dimension (flat) drawing of Dufour’s 3 dimensional Elementree by René Vernon.

René Vernon writes:

"I was surprised by its lack of symmetry in Dufour’s Elementree, caused by the awkward placement of He, and the assignment of H as floating above Li and Be. Hydrogen is as much subject to the periodic law as any other element. Without aligning H over Li, and He over Be, I am not sure that Elementree can be made symmetrical."

© Mark R. Leach Ph.D. 1999 –

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