I loooove the periodic table. I was hooked as soon as I learned how the shape of the table is dictated almost entirely by atomic orbitals. Just by looking at an element's placement on the table it possible to understand why some elements are magnetic, or how some are completely inert and don't react with anything, or determine which metal would create the biggest explosion when dumped in water. There is just so much information stuffed into this one 2-D chart that I never get tired of looking at it.



Once, when I first moved into my house, I really wanted a tile periodic table grouted into my kitchen back-splash. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough space for the whole thing, so I scrapped the idea and used the sheets of tiles to make periodic table magnets, so my kitchen would have at least a little chemistry.



I've made hundreds of periodic table magnets since, though I sold most of them at my last craft fair. I'm thrilled that there are so many chemistry nerds out there.

Labels: projects

posted by Alison 5/18/2009 11:39:00 PM : (0) comments : splink