Everett

"The Periodic Table"

            Today I'm going to talk about the periodic table. The periodic table is a system used for graphing elements. It separates elements by their atomic number. The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. Each atom is unique, therefore giving a reliable way to separate the elements. There are ten groups on the periodic table.

            The first element is Hydrogen. It does not appear in a “family” of elements. The first group is the Alkali elements. The Alkali elements are very reactive. The second is Sodium, which is explosive. The second group is the earth alkali elements. Magnesium is one of the most reactive. It lights up like a candle when you set fire to it. Calcium can neutralize acid and is inside chalk. Radon is radioactive and was used in glow in the dark paint.

            The next group is the Lanthanides. Most of these elements are named after planets and people. My favorite is Mendelevium because it is named after the man who created the Periodic table. Another one is Einsteinium, as you can probably guess it is named after Einstein. Plutonium is named after the planet Pluto.

            The next group is the Transition elements. Iron is probably the most well-known. Titanium is used in many things from golf clubs to hip joints! Silver is the most reflective element on the table of elements. People "Silver" mirrors to make them shinier.

            Neon is an element on the next group, the noble gases. Helium is common but did you know that it can glow pink? All of the noble gases light up when you run an electric current. Altogether, Argon is the most common noble gas. Argon can also glow blue!

            The next group is the non-metals. My favorite is Carbon because we are carbon life-forms. Nitrogen can freeze things solid! It has made ice cream in record time. Oxygen is put into tubes for energy.

            The next group is the halogens. Everything in here is highly reactive. If you blow a stream of fluorine at something, it will burst into flames. Chlorine was used as poison gas in World War I. Thankfully, chlorine has saved many more lives than it has taken.

            The group known as the ordinary metals are, well, extraordinary. Aluminum is very close to the ultimate metal. It's inexpensive, a great building material and light weight. It is used in airplanes and multiple other things. It could be a little less money to extract, though.

            The next group, the metalloids are not quite metal or non-metal. They are a little of both. Arsenic is a deadly poison. It's not used for much.

The next group is the Actinides. Every single one is radioactive. Actinium is so radioactive it naturally glows! As the name suggests, Neptunium is named for Neptune. All of the elements after Uranium are (unnaturally) made by nuclear reactors.

Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table and left spaces for more elements. So far, 122 have been discovered. Yet for some reason, four are not shown on the table. All of the four are radioactive. So in conclusion, the periodic table is a wonderful invention and I hope the world continues to use it.