THE ELEMENT FOUNDATION
A pattern worth exploring.
Atomic number orders the elements. Repeating electronic structure helps explain recurring behavior; compounds, structure and conditions determine what a material actually does.
118 INGREDIENTS. COUNTLESS CONNECTIONS.
The periodic table
118 elements match. Themes group the applications in this atlas; dimmed elements remain available.
Table key & reading guide
Small corner dots mark two authored connections to Carbon. Groups run down; periods run across. This view uses the Sc/Y/La/Ac group-3 convention; both are teaching conventions and neither changes an element’s authored data. Family boundaries are useful classifications, not universal property predictions.
Why the table has this shape
Atomic number
Each step adds one proton to the nucleus. Proton count identifies an element; changing neutron count gives a different isotope.
Groups and periods
Rows are periods. Columns are groups with useful recurring patterns. Similar outer-electron arrangements help explain some shared chemistry, with important exceptions.
Patterns have boundaries
Table position is a guide, not a complete property prediction. A compound, allotrope or isotope needs its own account. Heavy synthetic elements may have only limited measured properties.