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The Illustrated Periodic Table
Paul F. Schatz, John W. Moore, and Jon L. Holmes
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396 John C. Kotz
SUNNY College at Anent, Anent, NY 13820
Note:
This issue is out of print. See Periodic Table Live!, SP 17.
The Illustrated Periodic Table provides means for exploring the properties of the chemical elements using a friendly, graphics-oriented environment. The program includes the database from KC? Discoverer (1), as well as much additional information in graphic and textual formats. It contains a descriptive hypertext about each element, a search function for finding words in that text, a periodic table navigation tool that allows access to information about any element with a single mouse click, numerical values of macroscopic and atomic-level properties, literature references to the data, a glossary of definitions of many terms used in the hypertext, graphic and textual information about crystal structures of the elements, graphic and textual information about many of the scientists who made important discoveries about the elements, and images showing the elements and their uses. Two very powerful optional features are playing video from a videodisc in a window on the computer screen, and using Excel to graph and sort numeric properties from the KC? Discoverer database (1).
Figure 1. Initial screen for hydrogen from The Illustrated Periodic Table.Program Design The screen from The Illustrated Periodic Table that contains properties of hydrogen is shown in Figure 1. The rest of the elements are no farther away than the periodic table at the upper left. A mouse click on any cell in the table takes one to the screen for that element; a mouse click on the cell for hydrogen brings one back.
The region at the upper right of the screen contains hypertext and numeric data. In Figure 1 the hypertext is displayed. Words in boldface type are hot words; when you click the mouse on them, something will happen. For example, clicking on abundant element in the universe in the second bullet displays a graph of abundance as a function of atomic number in the box at the lower left of the screen (see Figure 2). Clicking on space shuttle displays a photograph of the space shuttle. Clicking on the boldfaced name of a person provides an image of the person along with a brief text giving nationality and dates of birth and death. There are other hotwords within the text that are not boldfaced; these provide definitions from the glossary when clicked.
Figure 2. Chart of solar system abundances and list of physical properties of hydrogen.Numerical data for an element are obtained by clicking on the buttons labeled Physical and Atomic at the upper right of the screen. Physical (macroscopic) data for hydrogen are shown in Figure 2. A similar table is available for atomic properties. Each property name is a hot word that presents a definition and reference to the source of the data. For some properties graphs as a function of atomic number are available.
Buttons at the lower center of the screen provide access to other features. The Crystal button presents a three-dimensional computer-generated drawing of the solid-state structure of the current element (Figure 3). A description of the structure, often including hot words, is given in the small box at the bottom right. The Search button opens a dialog box that prompts for a word to be searched for in the hypertext. Once the word is found, the screen automatically shifts to the element the word was used to describe. (In Figure 3 a search had already been done for Priestley, which was found in the description of nitrogen.)
Figure 3. Result of searching for "Priestly" and displaying crystal structure for nitrogen.Optional Features
The Chart button allows you to generate graphs from the numeric data and to sort these data according to increasing numeric value. Any physical or atomic property can be graphed on either the x or the y axis. Charting is done using Microsoft Excel, which is not supplied with this issue; if you do not have Excel, the Chart button will not appear. A sample graph is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Graph of atomic volume versus atomic number created by the charting module (optional).
The Video button enables users with an IBM M-Motion video adapter to play video from the Periodic Table Videodisc (2) in the box at the lower left of the screen. For lecture presentations and to make details visible, the video window can be expanded to full screen. While video is being played, a set of control buttons allow stopping, backing up, slow motion, and replaying. If an IBM M-Motion video adapter is not present, the video button will not appear.
Periodic Table Videodisc
The Periodic Table Videodisc (2) is a visual database of information about the elements that has been published separately and is not included as part of The Illustrated Periodic Table. For most elements the visual database includes a view of the element itself and videos of common products or materials that contain the element. For most elements that react with air, water, acids, or base, video sequences showing those reactions are available on the disc. Video is available either through the video button or via hot word in the hypertext. Figure 5 shows an example.
Figure 5. Video sequence of strontium burning from the Periodic Table Videodisc.Hardware and Software Requirements
Software in Series D of JCE: Software requires Microsoft Windows version 3.1 or later and associated hardware as defined by Microsoft. We recommend an IBM-PC or compatible computer with an 80386 or higher processor, a minimum of 4 MB of memory, a hard disk, one 3.5-in. floppy disk drive to install the software, a mouse, and a Windows-compatible graphics card (such as a VGA or a SVGA adapter) with a compatible color monitor. DOS version 5.0 or later is highly recommended.
In addition to the hardware and software recommended above, the charting feature of The Illustrated Periodic Table requires Microsoft Excel for Windows version 4.0 or greater. To display video directly on a monitor requires that an IBM M-Motion video adapter and associated software be installed in the computer.
Installation of The Illustrated Periodic Table requires about 15 MB of hard disk space.
Literature Cited
- Feng, Aw; Moore, J. W.; Harwood, W.; Gayhart, R. KC? Discoverer J. Chem. Educ.: Software 1988 1B (1). Cabrol, D.; Moore, J. W.; Rittenhouse, R. C. KC? Discoverer with Knowledgeable Counselor J. Chem. Educ. Software, Special Issue 2, 1992.
- Periodic Table Vidoedisc, J. Chem. Educ.: Software, Special Issue 1, 1989. Abstract appeared: J. Chem. Educ., 1989 66, 19-20.
First Published: May 1995
Citation: Schatz, P. F.; Moore, J. W.; Holmes, J. L.; Kotz, J. C. . The Illustrated Periodic Table J. Chem. Educ. Software 2D2
Keywords: Lecture Aid; Computer Room; Instructor; High School; General; Inorganic; History of chemistry; Periodic table; Periodic trends; Descriptive chemistry of elements
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Last Updated: April 26, 2001
Created: December 3, 1996Created by: J. L. Holmes
Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu
© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.