We introduce three-dimensional helical periodic tables of atoms and nuclei. With the paper patterns provided, students can easily make these periodic tables in class to enhance understanding of periodicities of the elements. The periodic table currently used worldwide is of a long form pioneered by Werner in 1905. It was Pfeiffer who refined Werner’s work and rearranged the rare-earth elements in a separate table below the main table in 1920. Today’s widely used periodic table essentially inherits Pfeiffer’s arrangements. Although long-form tables more precisely represent electron orbitals around a nucleus, they lose some of the features of Mendeleev’s short-form table to express similarities of chemical properties of elements when forming compounds. Here we explain how the 3D helical periodic table “Elementouch”, which combines the s- and p-blocks into one tube, can recover features of Mendeleev’s periodic law. We also introduce the recently invented nuclear periodic table “Nucletouch”, based on the proton magic numbers. The nuclear shell structure leads to a new arrangement of the elements with the proton magic number nuclei treated like noble-gas atoms.

3D atomic and nuclear periodic tables of the elements: Elementouch and nucletouch

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.