What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

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JC_Atoms
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What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

Post by JC_Atoms »

This is my first post so I figured I would start with the important stuff.

What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

Do you like the Standard Periodic Table, the Wide Form Periodic Table, The Charles Janet Left Step Periodic Table or maybe something else?

Is the Periodic Table something you use frequently?

Do you think there are any improvements that need to be made with the Periodic Table of Elements or do you think it is perfect the way it is?

Thanks for any feedback in advance!

JC
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ChenBeier
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Re: What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

Post by ChenBeier »

Standard Version is good enough, specific information can be looked up anywhere else. Internet, Textbooks, etc.
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Re: What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

Post by JC_Atoms »

The Periodic System is one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. Called a "Universal Language of Science" by many chemists and scientists and perhaps one of the only pieces of knowledge we might share with an intelligent Alien Species should we ever make contact.

The Periodic System gets its predictive power from the Order and Location of the elements, correct? I mean, that is kind of what makes the Periodic Table of Elements so special in the first place, the fact that Elements get their positions based on Atomic Numbers and Electron Configurations. For the most part, fundamental quantities, or the 4 Quantum Numbers determine the Elements locations.

Yet, the Standard Periodic Table places 30 Elements out of order, in their incorrect positions and also excludes them from the (1-18) numbering system based on an outdated and unscientific tradition, "to save paper space" or to "make it easier to print on posters and in books". Think from the perspective of a new chemistry student trying to learn this system. In one breathe we tell the students how important the order of the Elements is and in the next we say that we are placing 30 Elements out of order for no good reason.

The Periodic System is one of the greatest scientific discoveries that the world has ever known, yet most people can't read or use it to save their lives. Even people who have graduated from High School, generally cannot read or use the Periodic Table of Elements to make accurate predictions about matter. Why do you think that is? Do you think this information and knowledge isn't important enough to become a fundamental piece of the curriculum?

I have spoken to Chemical Engineers and people who have passed High School and college Chemistry courses that still cannot use the Periodic Table, in particular when it comes to the transition metals and Rare Earth Elements. A huge reason why this is happening is because the Standard Periodic Table is much more confusing than it needs to be because of an unscientific tradition. Much of the confusion could be cleared up easily with a few logical modifications to the Standard Periodic Table arrangement and (1-18) numbering system.

Instead of the inaccurate and incomplete (1-18) or Roman Numeral numbering that excludes the "Rare Earth Elements", a numbering system can be applied to the unbroken "wide form" arrangement that corresponds with the Valence Electrons in S and P Blocks and Core Electrons in D and F Blocks and also highlights the 4 Stable Bonding Rules of Chemistry, 2,8,18 and 32. Why, in science, where truth and data are supposed to be the priority, are we still allowing such an important discovery and tool be misrepresented? "Saving Paper Space" at a time where just about everyone has a widescreen phone or widescreen TV or widescreen Computer Monitor, just makes no sense whatsoever.

Let me ask you this, do you think our education system places enough value on students understanding the knowledge in the Periodic Table of Elements, especially given its importance, power and influence on the whole of science? How many people do you think out of 100 who graduate High School, can really read and use the Periodic Table of Elements? Are you satisfied with your answer and the scientific literacy rates as they stand?

I don't know about you, but if it were up to me, using the Periodic System would be as fundamental of a subject as counting, writing and reading in the classroom. Everyone would have a working knowledge of the Atoms and Elements, because after all, everything we can touch, taste, smell, hear and see is made up of these Atoms and Elements. So, it stands to reason in my mind, that the more people who know about the Elements, the better equipped people will be to successfully navigate in this reality.

Respectfully, I would have to disagree when you say that the Periodic Table is good enough as it is. I think we should make sure to make the most accurate and complete Periodic Table "The Standard" that is spread far and wide. I think we should let the numbers and data speak for themselves and throw out any dogmatic traditions that only cause frustration and confusion.
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Re: What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

Post by ChenBeier »

Wow, a long Monolog.
You do realy make a lange commercial for your product the PSE.

But for me it is not first priority, like probably most of the 100 students.

How many people do you think out of 100 who graduate High School, can really read and use the Periodic Table of Elements? Are you satisfied with your answer and the scientific literacy rates as they stand
I dont know, but not everybody studies chemistry or physics.
My opinion, you dont have to know everything, you have only to know how to find it.
If I need some more information about an element, there are enough sources to look it up. Start with type in a search engine like Google and others.
Let me ask you this, do you think our education system places enough value on students understanding the knowledge in the Periodic Table of Elements, especially given its importance, power and influence on the whole of science?
Which education system, which country?
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Re: What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

Post by JC_Atoms »

I'm speaking of the education systems anywhere that the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has made the broken and inaccurate Periodic Table and numbering system, the Standard. As far as I can tell, that is everywhere on the planet.

I understand that not everyone is, or wants to be a chemist or physicist, but everyone should have a basic understanding of chemistry and physics so they can be a more educated creator, consumer and citizen. Not everyone is going to be a writer or mathematician, yet we still want students to be able to read, write and perform basic arithmetic. People who have a basic understanding of Chemistry are harder to exploit and take advantage of. It's more difficult to sell products and food with toxic chemicals to people who are well educated in chemistry.

Everything we do is rooted in chemistry. You would be hard pressed to find anything that people do for a living or for fun, that doesn't directly involve chemistry in some way. Everything from cooking to cleaning to growing our own food, is a series of chemical reactions and the more educated people are in this subject, the more creative and problem-solving potential that people will have.

Out of 100 students who graduate High School in the United States, I would guess that less than 20% can actually read and use the Periodic Table of Elements to make accurate predictions about matter or balance a chemical equation. I actually think 20 out of 100 is a very generous estimate. Talk to 10 non-chemist High School graduates and it won't be uncommon for all 10 to be unable to read and use the Periodic Table to predict Element behaviors and determine Atomic Structures.

In High School it's actually very rare for students to graduate with a real working knowledge and understanding of the Periodic System. Even fewer seem to realize its importance, significance and power to develop new technologies and its influence on modern science. I rarely hear how its discovery launched us into the 2nd industrial revolution even though one directly proceeded the other.

With all that being said, the bottom line is that there is an unscientific tradition being taught at the very foundation of Chemistry and there is a more accurate and complete Periodic Table that is easier to learn and use that should be called the Standard.
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Re: What is your favorite Periodic Table of Elements?

Post by ChenBeier »

I think you had said enough to this topic, nothing New.
I will close with Amen.
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