[HN Gopher] Picture This: The Periodic Table
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Picture This: The Periodic Table
Author : laurex
Score : 60 points
Date : 2022-12-23 21:50 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (pioneerworks.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (pioneerworks.org)
| ryandrake wrote:
| Great visualization. I've always found it very unsatisfying to
| depict the lanthanides and actinides as just nebulously floating
| out there like Alaska and Hawaii on terrible maps of the US.
| Those elements are part of chemistry/physics too, and they have
| periodic properties. Finally a practical visual that promotes
| them to full citizens!
| thriftwy wrote:
| > A Siberian by birth, with Rasputin-like dishevelled hair and an
| irascible manner
|
| Most of Mendeleev's photos are of his old age, but he actually
| discovered the periodic table in his 40s, I believe.
| Pulcinella wrote:
| If you can find a copy I highly recommend _Graphical
| Representations of the Periodic System During 100 Years_ by
| Edward G. Mazurs. The latest edition is from 1974 (which
| unfortunately means it is just misses including the J.F. Hyde
| table from 1975).
|
| There is also the Internet Database of Periodic Tables
| (https://www.meta-
| synthesis.com/webbook/35_pt/pt_database.php...).
|
| I'm not sure there really is any new insight to be gained from
| new arrangements of the elements, but I do feel like this work
| has stagnated in recent years. Even the cheapest smart phones
| have more graphical processing power than anything from 10-20
| years ago. I would like to see more 3D arrangements (including
| "regular" 3D, VR/AR, and physical 3D models).
|
| As a former Chemistry teacher, I would also love to see a "build
| your own" periodic table (maybe some way of coding whatever
| rules/constraints you think the arrangement should take and the
| elements are laid out accordingly, rather than directly placing
| each element). I think it's important for students to realize
| that at one point these were original ideas that people had to
| think of and popularize and that new ideas are also possible. The
| current table is not just some ancient truth handed down since
| time immemorial. Though the table reflects the laws of nature, it
| is the product of human creation (e.g. the common form of the
| table with the lanthanides and actinides placed below the rest of
| the table is purely for practical reasons. Otherwise the table is
| far too wide to print and read easily).
| WillAdams wrote:
| I've always thought it was quite unfortunate that some really
| arcane presentation of the periodic table wasn't used in H.
| Beam Piper's novella "Omnilingual":
|
| https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19445/pg19445-images.ht...
| bluenose69 wrote:
| > I think it's important for students to realize that at one
| point these were original ideas that people had to think of
|
| This part of your informative comment indicates to me that you
| were a great teacher. This sort of thing doesn't occur to many
| students, and so they find it difficult to connect with
| material. If they can visualize somebody else doing such work,
| they may be able to visualize themselves doing it, too. And
| that's the first step. Even if they don't go into science,
| though, they will gain an appreciation for what it is.
| Pulcinella wrote:
| Thank you for your kind words! :)
| hcrisp wrote:
| I recently ran across Benfey's alternate periodic table (1964)
| which is similar but more complete:
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_periodic_tables
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| Thanks, that led me to Giguere's
| https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4233444/figure/...
| which, being orbital based, I guess counts as a physicists'
| table.
|
| For sheer exuberance, how about the Railsback table?
| http://railsback.org/PT/815PeriodicTable48e02.pdf
| zksmk wrote:
| I love Benfey's table. I find it the most intuitive to
| interpret at a glance at what's actually going on with the
| electrons and the filing of the orbitals (in the version where
| they're marked) around the nucleus. Might be just taste, but
| it's my fave.
| einpoklum wrote:
| So, what's so special about Silicon (Si) which puts in the middle
| of the 8-shaped figure at the top of the story?
|
| Also, why does Carbon seem to protrude from the spiral towards
| Silicon?
| jtbayly wrote:
| My questions exactly. Also, why the faint lines from silicon
| running to lots of other elements?
| bronson wrote:
| It was created by an organosilicon chemist. It sounds like
| this rendering was meant to illustrate silicon instead of
| being purely general purpose: https://corporate.dow.com/en-
| us/about/company/history/james-...
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| That suggests the modern equivalent would be one where the
| spiral animates, as the reader picks their "focus"
| element...
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| I'd like to put a poster of the periodical table on my kid's
| bedroom wall.
|
| What's the best representation for a 6 year old?
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