The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements

The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements

This table is known as the Periodic table of Elements.

This is an amazing treasure. It has information hidden in it about the substances / matter that make up our world.  This information has been arranged in rows and columns.

In order to read it we will have to learn the Language of Symbols in chemistry. We will do this gradually.

Look carefully - in every box there are a couple of english alphabets and on top of them is a number.

Perhaps we recognise some of them!

Look at the first box in the first column - it says ‘H’ - this indicates Hydrogen. Hydrogen is a gas - perhaps you have heard about it somewhere. Above ‘H’, there is a number ‘1’ written. Soon we will get to know what this means.

Now look at the first box in the 16th column. “O” is the symbol for Oxygen. Where have you heard of Oxygen?

Now look at the third box in the first column and the second box in the 17th column. “Na” and “Cl”; ‘Na’  stands for Sodium and ‘Cl’ for chlorine. Sodium is known as Natrum in Latin. That is why the symbol for sodium is Na.

Perhaps you know, what we refer to as Table/ edible Salt is known to chemists as the formula NaCl. That is, which is made by combining of Sodium and Chlorine. We call this N-a-C-l.

And, what do you think of H2O? This is the chemical formula for water. It is read as H-2-O. This formula tells us that water is made of Hydrogen and Oxygen both. They are both gases, but when they combine in a particular ratio, they become liquid (water). Isn't this interesting!

Look at the 14th column, 2nd box. ‘Si” - Silicon; does that sound familiar? Chips or processors of Memory cards, computers, mobiles - all are made of this.

And now look at the fourth box of the 15th column. ‘P’ - Phosphorous; this is an essential component of our bones, matchsticks, firecrackers. You will find this interesting - it was first found in human urine.

Just like phosphorus, the discovery of every element has an interesting story behind it. We can discuss that some other time.

Chemists believe that the entire world is made up of only 118 elements. In the periodic table these are arranged in a particular sequence/ order. Around 94 elements are found in nature and rest of them have synthesized in the laboratories.

How did they know that there are only 118 elements in the world - this question may have crossed your mind.

Before that looking at this question, it is important to know what are elements?