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| What is the Periodic Table Showing? | Periodicity |
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. The database holds information on periodic tables, the discovery of the elements, the elucidation of atomic weights and the discovery of atomic structure (and much, much more).
The 10 Best Periodic Tables:
| 2013 | Top 10 Periodic Tables |
| Year: 2013 | PT id = 610, Type = review |
Top 10 Periodic Tables
There are more than 1000 periodic tables hosted by the Chemogenesis Webbook Periodic Table database, so it can be a little difficult to find the exceptional ones.
Here we present – in our humble opinion – The ten most significant periodic tables in the database.
We present the best:
- Three best data rich periodic tables
- Five formulations which show the development of the modern PT
- One, of many, interesting alternative formulations
- One example of the periodic table being used as an infographic template
Three Excellent, Data Rich Periodic Tables
The first three of our top 10 periodic tables are classic element data repositories.
They all work in the same way: click on the element symbol to get data/information about the selected element. The three are Mark Winter's WebElements, Theo Gray's Photographic Periodic Table & Michael Dayah's Ptable.
- Since 1993 – and with its rather bland interface – WebElements has given access to vast quantities of in depth chemical data & information. This is the professional chemist's periodic table:
- Theo Gray's Photographic Periodic Table is undoubtedly the most attractive PT available in web space, but there is more. Clicking around the website gives access to a host of information, pictures & anecdotes from Theo's extraordinary and extensive collection of chemical elements:
- Ptable has a super-slick, and very fast interface. It is data/information rich and is available in 50 languages:
Five Formulations Showing The History & Development
The next five examples deal with history and development Periodic Table. The first is Dalton's 1808 list of elements, next is Mendeleev's 1869 Tabelle I, then Werner's remarkably modern looking 1905 formulation. This is followed by Janet's Left Step formulation and then a discussion of how and why the commonly used medium form PT formulation, is constructed.
- There are several early listings of chemical substances, including Valentinus' Alchemy Table and Lavoisier's Table of Simple Substances (1789). In 1803 Dalton proposed that matter consists of discrete atoms that combine in fixed ratios, stoichiometry, to form chemical elements. Thus, Dalton's list of chemical elements, plus mass data, must be included in any top ten listing:
- If you examine the periodic tables from Antiquity to 1899, you will see that from about 1830 onwards, proto-periodic tables were coming thick and fast. Significant developments include: Daubeny's Teaching Display Board of Atomic Weights (1831), Chancourtois Telluric Helix (1862) and Newlands octaves (1864).
But, it was Mendeleev's Tabelle I that was first near complete periodic table formulation of the then known elements (no Group 18 rare gasses, note). Crucially, Mendeleev identified gaps and was able to make predictions about the chemical properties of the missing substances. Plus, Mendeleev promoted his ideas with great energy:
- Werner's 1905 Periodic Table is remarkably modern looking. The formulation is a long form that separates transition metals and rare earths, but he guessed wrong on how many existed:
- Janet's Left Step formulation of 1928 is one for the purists as it clearly shows the chemical elements arranged into s, p, d & f-blocks of the recently developed quantum mechanical description of atomic structure:
- The modern (and commonly employed) periodic table is obtained by transforming Janet's Left Step into the modern long form periodic table by rearranging the blocks around. This transformational mapping is discussed in some detail here.
The long form and medium form PTs have electronegativity trending from top-right (electronegative) to bottom left (electropositive), and many aspects of periodicity corollate with electronegativity: atomic radius, first ionisation energy, etc.
Thus, the long form and medium form periodic tables are commonly used in the classroom:
An Alternative Formulation
The internet database contains many, many alternative formulations, and these are often spiral and/or three dimensional. These exemplified by the 1965 Alexander DeskTopper Arrangement. To see the variety of formulations available, check out the Spiral & Helical and 3-Dimensional formulations in the database:
Non-Chemistry PTs
The periodic table as a motif is a useful and commonly used infographic template for arranging many types of object with, from 50 to 150 members.
There are numerous examples in the Non-Chemistry section where dozens of completely random representations can be found:
- Adobe Illustrator Shortcuts
- Adult Positions
- Airline Customer Reviews
- Beer Styles
- And, chosen more or less at random, European Nations:
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| What is the Periodic Table Showing? | Periodicity |
© Mark R. Leach Ph.D. 1999 –
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