
Bonus content includes a series of articles featuring elements most relevant to us here in Australia, by high-profile guest authors.How do you introduce students to the periodic table?Įven though memorizing the elements on the periodic table seems hard for kids, you could simplify the form and let them learn it in a fun way. Should I be eating organic food? Is that anti-wrinkle cream a gimmick? Is it worth buying BPA-free plastics?Īnd if you’re a chemistry aficionado, keep an eye out for the latest published science in the Australian Journal of Chemistry. It tells the stories of the chemicals around us, weaving together hundreds of clever and quirky explanations.

You’ll find out about the elements in our homes, backyards and environment with Chemistry in the Marketplace. You can also try a few chemical reactions with the kids – from fizzy dinosaur eggs to dancing slime – by picking up a copy of Hands-On Science. Kids can work out the periodic puzzle for themselves, learn how the elements came from the stars, and have some foamy fun. Want to introduce kids to the elements? Grab your subscription to Double Helix magazine by 15 January to receive our International Year of the Periodic Table special issue.

If you’re intrigued by the story behind the periodic table, check out these reading recommendations from the team at CSIRO Publishing. Quick! Subscribe now to get the special periodic table issue of Double Helix. So keep an eye out for element 119 and beyond! Scientists think element 119 will start a new row on the periodic table and have properties a bit like sodium, potassium and other elements in the group known as alkali metals. Scientists are still on the hunt to find new elements. Additional elements have been created in nuclear reactions and particle accelerators up to number 118 – oganesson – which was only formally named in 2016. There are about 90 naturally occurring elements. Today, the gaps in the original periodic table have been filled. He even predicted the properties of these mystery elements. He left some blank spaces in his table where he believed unknown elements could be found. While arranging the cards, Dmitri discovered that the elements had regular, repeating properties. The aim is to organise cards by suit (horizontally), and by number (vertically).ĭmitri made up his own set of cards based on the 63 known elements of the time. Rumour has it that Dmitri Mendeleev based the first version of this famous table on the classic card game, Patience (also known as Solitaire). We’ve come a long way since the very first periodic table in 1869. Welcome to the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements! From a game to greatness

And yet, it’s the single greatest tool in chemistry – the periodic table.Īs it’s the 150th anniversary of this remarkable system, the United Nations has deemed 2019 as the year to celebrate. It’s a strange grid of squares, filled with arcane codes.
