University of Nottingham’s chemistry professor Martyn Poliakoff says that most chemists don’t know the atomic number of most elements and that it’s a pain to look in the periodic table. That’s why ...

Editor’s note: The following, originally published with the title “Putting the Elements in Their Places,” is the introduction to the Scientific American Classics special digital edition,“The Quest for ...

The periodic table of elements—also known as Mendeleev’s table—was developed in 1869 by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. It organizes all known chemical elements by their atomic number, which is the ...

Electrons in atoms occupy energy levels, also called electron shells, outside the nucleus. Different shells can hold different maximum numbers of electrons. The electrons in an atom occupy the lowest ...

Play this game to learn about lots of different elements in the periodic table. While you're watching, look out for where different elements are found in the periodic table. Mrs Roberts: So, here I ...