Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Elemental Musings

The other day, my son asked me what makes fireworks different colors. "It's the elements" I explained: "different chemical elements in fireworks give different colors when they burn." Fortunately, I remembered* a couple of examples: red (strontium), blue (copper), and green (barium). Because he has a periodic table on his wall, those names were at least familiar to him.

I googled up a cool spiral version of the Periodic Table of the Elements (the original is here. I like this chart because the spiral line tracks the series of the known elements, ranging from 1 to about 107 (there are actually now 118 elements). Also, the radial arrangement indicates some of the “rhyming” between related elements (so-called periodicity).



Mentally uncoil the spiral and imagine a number line beginning with 1 (hydrogen), continuing with 2 (helium), then 3 (lithium), etc., and ending at 118. This is the alphabet of matter--just as 26 characters are the alphabet of our language. But just as the alphabet alone cannot capture the compositional richness of language--words, sentences, paragraphs, and books--the elements alone cannot capture the richness of the physical world. And yet the table of elements is still a marvel to contemplate.

*Added: a website link that tells you how to color flames with common household materials: Link.

12 comments:

  1. It's beautiful displayed that way, El Pollo! Thanks for the science lesson. I was...not exactly a good student of science in school. Glad to see my kid loving it, though!

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  2. Thanks Darcy!

    I'm thinking of continuing the theme with a little blogpost on each element in turn, emphasizing its role in science, history, and politics. Ambitious or geeky folly?

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  3. Well, I'd like it! (I think I slept through science. Hee.) I want to know more.

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  4. Try to sneak in a few fake ones and see if anyone catches on!

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  5. Jason- thanks for the suggestion-the real story of Technetium (43) and the associated "false" claims thereto will probably do well enough-all in good time, all in good time. :)

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  6. Wow that was a great explanation. I always thought it was the vodka. Thanks.

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  7. You have set the [periodic] table and you must let us feast.

    I used to think it was clever to think I was a combination of Ru [Ruthenium] and Th [Thorium]. And then I became an Atoms [Adams].

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  8. Ruth Anne,
    The naming of the elements is a fascinating story in itself.

    I'm working on a light, first course appetizer.

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. NEERRRRRDDDSSS!!

    Heh.

    I skipped Chemistry and did Physics. It should all be resolvable from that, right?

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  10. That's very pretty. The universe rhymes, and chimes. The music of the spheres is fractal.

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  11. Hey Hector! I just noticed your comment. I'm a fan of you.
    Thanks so much for stopping by.

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