Deeper Meaning of the Elements

A report I did for school about the uses and applications for the Periodic Table of elements. Vial "helped". 

After a lifetime of heart ache and struggle, after being denied entrance to a university after riding 100 miles on horse-back through Siberia, after numerous set-backs and more, Dimitri Mendeleev finally published Principles of Chemistry in 1869. The paper held the beginnings of the first correct and precise Periodic Table of the elements. Mendeleev not only realized there were "missing" or undiscovered elements, he also correctly predicted their future properties and chemical attributes. Boldly, he denied the authenticity of another chemists newly discovered element when its properties differed from Mendeleev's predictions. Mendeleev was correct. From his work sprouted the modern Periodic Table of the Elements. It's numbers, symbols, and colored boxes may seem confusing, but after studying it one can see the symmetrical and mathematical beauty contained in it. With a few letters and symbols, the Periodic Table describes how each element's electrons are configured, in which category they are located, and what their atoms look like. 

In order to understand how the periodic table works, it is necessary to understand how an atom works. At the center of every atom is a cluster of positively charged atomic components called protons. The number of protons determines what element the atom . Flying around in the atomic world are negatively charged electrons, and because opposite charges attract, just like magnets, electrons are held in orbit and the positive protons. But because similar charges repel, God packed the neutral neutrons in between the protons to hold them together. Unfortunately, electrons don't neatly and understandably orbit the proton nucleus, but instead they can be thought of as waves, which surround the nucleus. The peaks and valleys of these waves are the border of where the atom stores that electron, and these storage compartments are called shells; one of the most chemically important parts of the atom. Once one understands what an atom is, they can then understand how each element and chemical works.

When one first glances at the Periodic Table, they see colorful squares containing strange symbols and headache-inducing numbers, but what they really see is actually the answer to life, the universe, and everything made of matter. The one or two letter symbol abbreviates the element's name, for instance, "He" represents Helium. The confusing Hg which represents Mercury is derived from its Greek name Hydragyrum, which means liquid silver. The usually two digit number in one of the upper corners is the element's atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. A confusing number is the elements atomic weight, its sum of protons and neutrons. An individual atom's atomic weight is always a whole number, but the atomic weight of the entire element is the average atomic weight of all the elements known isotopes. If the number of protons the atoms has changes, the element changes to a different element, but if the number of neutrons changes, the element is said to convert into a different isotope, which is the same element but with slightly different chemical properties. Although the Periodic Table seems confusing at first glance, the numbers and letters can easily be explained so one can understand the secrets the Table holds.

Grouped in different corners of the Table are elements which have similar properties. If the reader starts from the left side, they immediately find the Alkali metals. These are violent, soft grey metals that can easily be cut with a butter knife. Interestingly, they will ignite or explode if they come in contact with air or water. The next column holds the Alkali Earth Metals, less reactive cousins of the Alkali Metals. A stubborn chunk in the middle of the Periodic Table contains the dull, grey, common and similarly composed transition metals, such as Tungsten, Iron, Platinum and Silver. The post-transition metals come next, which are unique half metals with strange properties that include a metal which will melt in your hand. Metaloids come next, and are more strange and poisonous half-metals, for example, the deadly Antimony and Polonium are Metaloids. Finally there are the all-important Non-Metals, which include Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen, all of which are essential to our life. The Alkali Metals have more evil and insidious friends on the other side of the Table, known as the Halogens. Their members include the horrific Chlorine, flammable Fluorine, and the liquid Bromine. In the very farthest corner one finds the Noble Gasses, astute, snooty elements that are completely inflammable, don't conduct heat, and never form molecular bond with other atoms. These are the different types of elements of the Periodic Table, each with their own fascinating characteristics.

From Mendeleev's first Periodic Table to the present, our understanding of the world around us has a taken a drastic detour into the atomic world. We now know of the strange particles that compose atoms, and of how these particles affect the matter the make-up on a larger scale. Although complex, we understand how electron shells put the periodicity into the Periodic Table. Organizing the known physical world into a concise table is one of the crowning scientific achievements humans have accomplished. Undoubtedly, Mendeleev's beginning work led to one of the most important compilations in history. Perhaps someday in Heaven we can study the deeper meaning and symbolism God put into the elements when He created our universe.