Friday, March 02, 2012

a periodic table


















All the atomic pebbles I have been making over the last month have now successfully made it through both firings - Carbon got a little stuck - thanks heavens for batt wash! I am delighted with how they have turned out! So I have made a little arrangement of the pebbles to look like the very familiar periodic table of Dmitri Mendeleev (1869) on the dining table.The different sizes are in proportion to their atomic radii and the number of 'dots' represent the number of electrons per atom. Its fascinating to see the difference between Fluorine (9) and Francium (87). N was quite surprised at how small the noble gases get with all their electron (on the right hand side) compared with the alkali metals (on the left hand side)  There are 99 atoms represented here as this is as many as I could get data on for the atomic radius - there are approximately 120 atoms in total, though some estimate more. The black ones, before anyone asks, represent atoms that are artificially prepared - more details later. The next step is to attach (superglue) some magnets to them all so I can make an installation (albeit briefly) on the lab whiteboard!

1 comment:

The undomesticated scientist said...

Looking forward to seeing it properly!

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