Chemists love periodic tables! But the latest incarnation “really is quite different”, writes Neil Withers, an associate editor of Nature Chemistry, at the Sceptical Chymist.
Martyn Poliakoff and his colleagues at Nottingham University, UK, in collaboration with video journalist Brady Haran, are creating entertaining short videos about the properties of each element. At their Periodic Table of Videos site, they explain that tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the nineteenth century, and that their aim is to create a more modern version.
As this issue [of Nature_] went to press, the most-viewed among the 118 videos were sodium, helium and potassium. Phosphorus, mendelevium and mercury were also highlighted as worth a look. Viewers can subscribe to a YouTube feed to be notified as new videos are created.
Those keen for further elemental education might like to check out a video, Chemical Party, over at Nature Network.
“_Nature 455, xiii; 11 September 2008":http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/7210xiiic.html