User blog:CaptainToad/Chem Blog - The Periodic Table

The periodic table is a strange thing - it's a chart filled with jumbles of letters and strange words all around. There's hundreds of those things known as "elements" plastered all over that strange chart, but what could they mean and what are they?

Image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Periodic_table_%28polyatomic%29.svg/500px-Periodic_table_%28polyatomic%29.svg.png

Every letter/duo of letters you see on the table represents a unique element. Elements are defined to being "substances or compounds that are at their simplest forms". In other words, they're weak materials that can combine with each other to form more stronger compounds.

Elements are all around us from the air we breathe in to the things we eat! Earth's atmosphere for instance has the elements oxygen, nitrogen, and even carbon dioxide mixed within it!

For example,

H - that's the first element of the periodic table as you can see on the far top left. This element is Hydrogen. Now why is it the first element on the periodic table? Because hydrogen is an element made up of the smallest atoms (atoms are the building blocks/components of elements).

Here's another example,

Ca - that's the 20th element listed on the table. This element is Calcium. Why is Calcium lower on the table than Hydrogen? Calcium is made up of bigger atoms than Hydrogen!

/ End first chem blog