An Application-Oriented Periodic Table of the Elements J. Barma Chemical Educatlon (Chemiedidactiek), Vrije ~niversiteit,De Boelelaan 1083, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam. The Netherlands The credit for priority in designing the periodic table of the elements should he given to a t least six researchers who published in the 19th century. Van Spronsen ( I ) mentions Pettenkofer, Newlands, Odling, DBbereiner, BCguyer de Chancourtois, and Hinrichs. More names could be put forward, for example, Leopold Gmelin, who published a sketch as early as 1843 (Fig. 1) (2). Still, it is D. I. Mendeleev, together with J. Lothar Meyer, who are best known in this connection. In 1869 the periodic table of the elements was first published bv D. 1. Mendeleev and J. Lothar Mever. It is interesting to &ow that a long and bitter priority battle was fought between these two men. According to Gorin (3), Mendeleev has the better claims. The table in the form proposed by Mendeleev now seems rather primitive to us (Fig. 2). The system thought out by Lothar Meyer was based on the periodicity, for example, of atomic volumes, as shown in the illustration (Fig. 3) (4).
A recent development has heen the IUPAC recommendation for numbering the groups from 1through 18. Although this may be an improvement for theoretical chemists, several teachers and chemical educationalists feel that pupils might experience greater difficulties in grasping the background of the table than before. One of the main uroblems arisinn is that the number of electrons in the outeishell can no longer be derived from the group number in a simple way. Another problem is the confusion that always accompanies shifting from one system to another. Appllcatlons of Chemlcal Elements and Compounds UD until now. one aspect of the table has rarelv come to the attention ofthe educational field, that is, the Gestionof application of chemical elements and their compounds. Eve; teacher has been faced with the pupils' cpestion: "Could
Presentation Forms From 1869 on, several forms of presenting the periodic table have been D I O D O S ~ ~The . best known amonn these are the long and theshirt forms. An example is the short form, designed by Henry Hubbard (5) and dating from 1924 (Fig. 4).
To show the resemblance between main group and transition elements, Von Antropoff (6) retained the short form, but designed colored columns for the eight groups of the second and third period, dividing them into two for periods 4 through 7 (Fig. 5). A summary of the various forms of the periodic table has been published by Mazurs (7). Use of the Periodic Table In Educatlon
After the first publications in 1869, teachers in chemistry nenlected this useful innovation for a rather long time, in accordance with the law stating that new developments in science need a time lapse of at least 25 years before being accepted by the educational field. In this instance, it must have been about 30 years, for the first textbook for secondary school chemistry in The Netherlands mentioning the periodic table was printed in 1899. As a kind of extra information. i t was found in the a ~ ~ e n d iOnlv x . a decade or so after the discovery of the nobiegases, which completed the table. did it become worthwhile to use it in education. The main purpose of the periodic table was for elucidating theoretical concepts like periodicity in, for example, atomic volumes. This ;nstan& was, & we have observed, Lothar Meyer's incentive in designing his table. Teachers showed pupils how the atomic radii in a period decreased from left to right, or how within a column similarity or difference in chemical properties of elements and their compounds changed gradually. These similarities were not confined to main erouns. but also extended themselves to transition groupele&e&. An intensive use of the table has been made after the discoverv of the reasons for ~eriodicitv,which are, i as we all know, the electron configurkion, the ~ a u lprinci: ple, and other concepts in this connection. In this contribution, I will refrain from referring to aufbau forms of the periodic table.
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Ir- 198. 0.9-199 Hg-200 Au-19i? Bi=2lO? TI=201 Pb-201
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F1g.e 2. The first skstd for a periodic table accmdlng m Mendeteeu.
Volume 66 Number 9
September 1989
741
Periodensystem der ELemente nach Prof. A.von Antropoff
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Lanthaniden (MetallederSeltenenErden) 57La 58Ce 59Pr 60Nd 6lPrn 6251-1163Eu64Gd 5Tb 6fDy 67Ho 68Er 69Tm KlYb 71Lu 138.92 110.13
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vou nlease exnlain what it's all eood for?" And indeed. what ;se i$ there in'a wall poster witgall the elements neatl; lined up without any reference t o daily life? From the very heginning of the introduction of the tahle into education, designers have troubled themselves in order to make the table more useful to their clients. In most instances, this results in an alarmingly great numher of data, all cramped together into one small box. The "Dutch" Perlodlc Table
In The Netherlands, several institutions try to direct chemistry teachers into a more everyday-life-orientedposition. In this connection, a tripartite cooperation has been established between the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society, the Netherlands Industrial Chemists association, and the Netherlands Association for Science Education. As a result of this cooperation, J a n van Spronsen with Jacob K a m e and some co-workers, who were aided hv the design department of Dutch S t a t e ~ i n e sthought , ofremodeling the tahle alona these lines. The result has been printed in two forms: a small format, fitting into a college notebook, 6). In and a big one for display on the classroom wall' (Fi. the meantime, American English2, Swedish3, and Portuguese4 translations have been produced. Translations into
'
Periodiek Systeem van de Elementen met Toepassingen van de Chemische Stoffen":VNCI. P. 0.Box 443. NL-2260 AK. The Haaue. An American translation ofthe table i i i n preparation. ~nnou;;ce rnent of its availability will be made in this Journalas soon as details 8r8 - .work& ... .... .Ollt . . .. For the Swedish translation, contact Kemikontorets Farlag AB. Box 5501, 11485 Stockholm. 'For the Ponuguese translation, contact Henkel S. A. Produtos Ouimicas, Caixa Postal 30364, S o Paulo SP 04578, Brasil.
Figure 6. Spiral model suggested by Frederick C.
Volume 66
Number 9
Strong. Ill.
September 1989
743
At room temperaturetheelement is:
Appearance in nature:
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center pert of me application-aiemed table showing explanations of mdes used.
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symbols are shown: 0 for the elemental form, the sign for an allov. blend or mixture. v for com~oundsof the element.~. and the'dash bar "/" designating tl&t the element is a raw material for some s~ecialaoolication. Printine in bold refers to the illustration. 'The X precedes the atomic weight. ~
F l w e 8. (left)Box showing me data of me gas neon. Figure 9. (center)Box showing lbdata of me liquid element bromine Figwe 10. (right) Box showing me data of me solid nickel.
other languages are encouraged. The copyright owner, the Netherlands Industrial Chemists Association (VNCI). is willing to make the color blocks available for distribution at cost. ~rovidedthe coovrieht will be mentioned. what are the featuiks of this table tbat might be interestine to ouoils? It noes without saving tbat ouoils are fond of this at&tive &d handy t a b l i a n 2 like-o&ng copies of their own. In addition, avoiding the overload of former designs, the "Dutch" tabie provid& a lot of data to answer the question: "What is chemistry goad for?" And last but not Gast, the multicolor design makes the chart an attractive decoration in every classroom. Some Delalls Let us examine some details of the chart. In the space between the first periods lacking d- and f-block elements, a general description is given in three columns (Fig. 7). The first column tells something about the phase of the element concerned a t room temperature. If the name of the element is printed in yellow, it is a gas; red is for a liquid, white is for solids, and green is for artificially prepared elements. The second column deals with the appearance in nature. If the lower half of the box is unshaded. this indicates that the element is mainly found in the compound form. If the element is orincioallv found in its elemental form. the lower hox is sdaded.'~lkf-shaded lower box indicates the existence of both oossihilities. The third column designates what the chart tells about the applications of the element concerned. Five different 744
Journal of Chemical Education
~
~
An Example As an example, I will take neon (Fig. 8). The symbol and the name are printed in yellow, so neon is a gas under normal conditions. It is used in all instances as the uncompounded element. Printed in hold is the application of the picture, which is a neon advertising sign of the VNCI, the Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry. Other instances mentioned lower are: fog lights, TV tubes, lasers, voltage detectors. The atomic weieht is 20.179. The lower half of the box is shaded. indicating that neon is found in the elemental form. Similar information for a liauid (bromine, and a solid (nickel) are given in Figures 9 and 10. Advantages for Educatlon in Chemistry One of the meat advantages of a table like this lies in the opponunity fir the teacber;oconfront hisor her pupils with aoolications of the most exotic elements. Who could rememb& all these facts, such as elemental cesium in photoelectric cells, xenon for sunheds, or americium in smoke detectors? A periodic table like this confronts pupils day by day with the social relevance of chemistry. They cannot hut observe how our science plays a predominant role in everyday life, a fact we want to emphasize in education. Not all of our pupils will study chemistry, hut we do expect all of them to play their role in society as responsible citizens with a t least a notion of the importance of chemistry. The application-oriented execution of the periodic table is a powerful help to attain this objective. It is up to those interested to contact the copyright holder for permission and help to reproduce it in any language. Some Posslblllties of Worklng wlth Thls Table What possibilities are there to use this table in chemistry teaching? I do not mean the message conveyed by the mere presence in the chemistry classroom of such an ornament. What I am aiming at in this last section is purposeful teaching, provided there is an opportunity to do so. Well, at the very beginning of chemistry classes, teachers will have to introduce their subject to their pupils. At that moment,
chemical symbols do not mean anything to them, but they can understand that there are a lot of chemical substances, they can have a look a t the pictures, and they can understand the captions. The teacher is there to point out what the consequences of studying chemistry for vuuils' own lives are. I can hardly imagine more convincing &oduction into the real world of chemistry. Every time some special element or group of congeners has to be dealt with, a teacher can point out, not only their chemical meaning, but also what humankind has discovered to make a profitahle useof the elements in question. It is very inspiring to lecture about the alkali metalsand the velocity of their reactinn with wacer, but the image formed by pupils gets an extra dimension when they learn that lithium is used in vacemaker hatteries, sodium in nuclear reactor coolants, andrubidium and cesium in photoelectric cells. The teacher can also take an alternative route by asking the students to imagine they are engaged in work with fertilizers and the consiquences of overfertilizing, and so on. They will find a lot of chemical elements and compounds used in agricultural chemistry. Not only the traditional ones like potassium and nitrogen, but also never-dreamt-of ele-
a
-
ments like scandium (for seed eerminators). . . mercurv. (for . seed disinfeclantn), and thallium (as an agricultural insecticide). I leave it to teachers' own imarrinations to find other inspiring examples, but the source is there at their disposal. And as for the . uuvils, . . thev . can use their own covv to look it up for themselves. Conclusion This kind of periodic table is of special interest for finding the relevance of chemistry in everyday life. I t is a novel and original way of working with the periodic table of elements, a way never conceived by Mendeleev or Lothar Meyer, but acclaimed by all who care about good education in chemistry. Llterature Clted 1. Spronsen,J. W . "an. Theperlodie System of ChpmicolElements; EEevier: Amsterdam.
Volume 66 Number 9
September 1989
745
