Francium Goes to Hollywood

July 16, 2008 6:33 PM

"Welcome to the "Periodic Table of Videos". Tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the 19th century - but this modern version will have a short video about each one."(YT subscription) (via kottke)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth (14 comments total)

I was thinking about posting this, but I wanted to watch more than 2 to make sure it was really Worthwhile. Because Our Standards Are So High. alsoi'mlazy
posted by DU at 6:40 PM on July 16, 2008

"Hassium. I know nothing about Hassium. Shall we make something up?"

This is really awesome.
posted by not_on_display at 6:49 PM on July 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

And in a more musical vein: George Hrab presents via the Geologic Podcast Occasional Songs for the Periodic Table (lyrics)
posted by jazon at 6:59 PM on July 16, 2008

Hassium has an isotope with a lifetime of an hour, and several with tens of minutes! That's astonishingly long for a superheavy element.

This paper claims that hassium's chemistry is "like osmium" from observing seven atoms.

I think it's safe to say that no one knows anything about hassium. So: very informative! These seem like fun guys.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:20 PM on July 16, 2008

I've been watching these for the past few days, off and on. Most excellent!

That mad scientist hair really grows on you (ah-hahaha)
posted by 5MeoCMP at 7:35 PM on July 16, 2008

This is good.
posted by aubilenon at 8:13 PM on July 16, 2008

Speaking as someone who used to drool over the big color pictures of each element in the 1960s Time-Life book "Matter", this is great.
posted by tinkertown at 9:04 PM on July 16, 2008

Iron
Sulphur
Calcium
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:36 PM on July 16, 2008

Debbie Kays is a lecturer in inorganic chemistry at the University of Nottingham. She admits to loving boron!

The world needs more people like Debbie.
posted by rongorongo at 2:30 AM on July 17, 2008

I dig it!
posted by Miko at 7:59 AM on July 17, 2008

Mad props on the title.
posted by kcds at 8:27 AM on July 17, 2008

This just moves my little chemistry nerd heart. I love listening to people talk about each element like it has a personality. I reminds me of the way that some design nerds talk about specific colors like they're alive.

I've been spending a little time everyday memorizing things that have nothing to do with my job just to keep my brain sharp. I've had some fun memorizing the names of the Shipping Forecast Areas around the UK, the Rulers of Russia and the capitals of Africa, but I find myself drawn to the periodic table most of all, to the point where I'll enumerate all of the elements at least once a day, trying my best to name them in order. There is something so perfect about the periodic table, especially how much information can be derived about an element's behavior just by looking at where it lies.

Thank you for sharing this. It's nice to add a little background to rote memorization.
posted by Alison at 9:08 AM on July 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

Alison - I recommend this song to help you
posted by rongorongo at 11:21 AM on July 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the song, rongorongo! Do you know any that name the elements according to their atomic number? I have them memorized in order up until Molybdenum, but my memory breaks down somewhere after that.
posted by Alison at 8:30 AM on July 18, 2008