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Designing a new periodic table (STEM/STEAM initiative)

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Ziggy:
Hi all. This is my first post here. I'm hoping to gather some opinions.

As part of a STEM/STEAM inspired initiative I am designing a periodic table that will visualize the various properties of the elements, using the best principles of "information design" to illustrate those properties, which will allow the elements, groups and periods to be more clearly understood and compared. The first version will be a printed, classroom-size wall chart. I am hoping to get initial thoughts now, and (down the road) some critiques of the chart itself prior to printing.

All totaled I'll be displaying more than 20 properties for each element. In addition to arranging the elements in standard 18-column format and displaying the symbols, numbers and names of the 118 elements, for each element the chart will illustrate:

- the electron configuration
- whether the element is gas, liquid or solid
- melting and boiling points
- volume, density and mass
- specific heat capacity
- molar heat capacity
- atomic radius, covalent radius, ionic radius
- category (e.g., transition metals)
- isotopes and % abundance
- half-life and decay particles
- year of discovery and the discoverer(s)
- oxidation numbers
   
Question 1: Are there any additional properties that you would like to see added?

Question 2: The chart will be 42 x 58 inches (typical classroom size). I also had a request for a larger "auditorium lecture" size version, and a smaller-room-size version (28 x 40 inches). The smaller size will require that I display fewer properties (space is tight). For the smaller size chart, which of the above do you think I should keep or be okay with eliminating?

Thanks for any feedback - Dan

Enthalpy:
Welcome, Ziggy!

This is a matter of taste, and you'll get as many opinions as people...

I doubt you can indicate the half-life and decay mode for the elements. That's a nuclide property that fits in a table of the nuclides. Some elements have a dozen natural isotopes and 30 known isotopes, most with 2-3 decay modes. At best, you can indicate the decay of the most abundant isotope, but some elements are not natural.

I'd like the isotopes listed by decreasing natural abundance, and maybe by decreasing half-life for the unstable ones.

I suggest that you shade and circle the element boxes with different colours to indicate
solid, liquid, gas, maybe cryogenic gas
stable, radioactive, artificial (which isn't the same)
metal, semi-metal, metalloid, transition element. Be clear if "metal" is for a chemist or a solid physicist.
This saves room.

The density, molar volume and specific heat capacity depend on the allotrope. In some cases, especially graphite, the density is only a theoretical value never encountered. This should at least be hinted somewhere. Molar volume and heat capacity are dropaway candidates for a smaller chart.

The radii are very badly defined. To the very least, hint at this somewhere, and tell which convention you use. Good candidate for dropping away.

Most elements have many possible oxidation numbers, check Wiki for that. You might want to restrict to the most common numbers, especially for a smaller table.

I don't care about who discovered an element when.

The abundance in Earth's crust could be interesting. Or the estimated resource: check at USGS. But not the price, which varies too much - or give just a power of ten or a category.

Energy of first ionization? Electronegativity? Redox potentials aren't associated with just an element, but maybe you could tell (colour?) if the uncombined element exists in natural state.

To the melting and boiling points, which I appreciate, you might add the critical temperature, maybe pressure.

You might check the properties given at webelements.com. In a website, they have more room than on a wall chart. I'd find healthy to pick only the properties associated with the elements, not with their isotopes (spin, magnetic moment, thermal neutron absorption...), and use discretion about the ones associated with the state of the element (modulus, speed of sound, conductivity, atomic radius and so on).

Ziggy:
Enthalpy - Thanks for the reply. I'm illustrating/graphing most of the properties listed to allow visual comparisons as you look across or down the table. For instance, I'm diagramming electron configurations, shells and orbitals. For each element the outer shell depicts the radius (when possible.) So I'll have to explain how the radii were derived. Similar approach for the other properties. I'm also color-coding where it makes sense. I've addressed just about every property so far, although not electronegativity yet.

When I get a bit further I may post a link to artwork for feedback. Also looking for a few interested people here to advise/critique it before it's finalized and goes to print, shooting for January/February 2019.

Ziggy:
I'm getting closer to finalization of the art work for the periodic table, and would appreciate any feedback as I get closer to a print date.

My background is in design and ergonomics, with special interest in usability and information design. The periodic table, 150 years old, is a great, early example of information design. By arranging elements in rows, gaps in the original table identified yet-to-be discovered elements – but with predictable behaviors.

Looking today at current print versions of periodic tables, I believe they could be much informative and inspiring - not simply a listing of numbers. So my project is a self-generated STEM/STEAM initiative. I would like to show it to a few people here to get some feedback on the design. If anyone can spare a few minutes, please let me know - you can reply here or send me a personal message.

Thanks - Dan

Enthalpy:
Why not display your design publicly in this discussion? It's the usefulness of a forum, that many people may contribute. Use the "Attach" button below the window where you type the message.

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