The presence of a pullout of the periodic table on the kitchen blackboard is a welcome sight, as it’s the only item among the Middlesex County Cricket Club fixture list and the bin lorry timetable that brings any joy. While the simple grid ordering of the known elements according to their properties is familiar to schoolchildren, it will soon be gone from some school textbooks in India, along with the topic of evolution. The omissions, designed to streamline the curriculum amidst the pandemic, have prompted an outcry from teachers, who fear it will harm India’s science and technology reputation. The theory of evolution is fundamental to biology, and the periodic table is essential to understanding our world.
Each square in the periodic table represents an element, a substance made up of only one type of atom. Each element has its unique name, symbol, and atomic number, which indicates the number of protons in the atom’s nucleus. At least 92 of the 118 elements occur naturally, while the rest are lab-made and generally unstable. The periodic table owes its origins to Dmitri Mendeleev, who ordered the 63 known elements (including hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, and potassium) according to repeating patterns in their chemical properties in the 1860s. Mendeleev also anticipated the existence of undiscovered elements by noticing gaps in the table.
Despite exhibiting no particular talent for chemistry, the attractive feature of sir Dmitri Mendeleev’s creation endears itself to the writer. The writer exhibited a disappointing grade B in the subject at A-levels, thanks to an unfortunate mock practical during which the exam paper accidentally contacted a Bunsen burner. The periodic table feels like sorcery, a Rosetta Stone the writer will never decipher. Moreover, it is a triumph of tabulation that elicits immense pleasure from the constituent names, histories, and characters.
Elements are named differently, depending on their attributes. For instance, some are named after people or places of discovery, while some sound like they’re props in a sci-fi movie. The newest elements exist only for a short time before decaying, made by colliding smaller elements together. Chemists are attempting to make elements 119 and 120 by the same means. If researchers can gather the required energy, a hypothetical “island of stability” may soon include even heavier and longer-lasting elements, adding to the excitement and intrigue of chemistry.
All in all, the periodic table is a fascinating piece of scientific equipment that merits celebration, even amidst the T20 chaos.
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