There’s an article in the current issue of Nature Chemistry that discusses some alternative ways of depicting the periodicity of the elements. There’s the IUPAC recognized Mendeleevian periodic table that everyone knows. There’s probably 3 in eyesight of you right now, isn’t there?
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But how many alternative periodic tables can you think of. Hint: there’s A LOT. More below the jump.
For starters, some prefer to stick the lanthanides and actinides in as part of the table as a whole, instead of just a footnote. This is the called the Janet Form. Note how it moves the first two families and places them all the way on the right:
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Another horizontal layout that strays from the classical grid, though, is called the Pyramidal Table. I’m not sure what further information it presents, except that you can draw a bunch of parallel diagonal lines:
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Or how about a vertical one based on electron configuration. It’s useful for quickly determining valence shell configuration for any given element, but I don’t see much use beyond that. The author of that webpage probably begs to differ.
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There’s a Rota Period based on valence of the various elements. It is very spread out. Do with it what you will.
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Paweł Najderek has developed one that looks very Escher-esque. (btw, if you like Escher, you’ll love this page…) You could, in principle, add an unlimited number of new periods without major revisions to the chart – as you would for the Mendeleevian table:
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Timmothy Stowe also has a condensed periodic table that is meant for physicists. It depicts the periodicity in terms of quantum numbers.
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Yeah. Now we’re starting to think outside the boxed-in grid. But why does the table have to read left-to-right? Several variations have ditched the grid in lieu of the spiral. Here are three quick hits. First is an unexplained periodic Fractal. Second is my personal favorite alternative view, Benfey’s Periodic Spiral. And third is the increasingly popular Chemical Galaxy, although I find the background a bit distracting. Aside from these 3, there are a number of periodic spirals:
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3D periodic tables are also all the rage. Second Life has one (or possibly two – I don’t know second life). This one is pretty neat. It’d be awesome to pick it up and hold it… but I don’t see myself using it daily.
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Many more than I can link to here. Definitely worth a perusal. Also don’t forget the Periodic Table of Videos Phil linked to a while back.
…Then there are the bozos that make periodic tables of things other than elements. As silly as they are, the Table of Condiments that Periodically go Bad has to be my favorite.
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As interesting as it is to think of alternative ways to tie together the periodicity of the elements – and as useful as those alternatives might be… I don’t see a paradigm shift happening any time soon. I think there’s so much inertia behind the classical Meneleevian periodic table that it’s probably here to stay.
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