150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Home News Sport Weather iPlayer Sounds

Home UK World Business Politics Tech Science Health

Science & Environment

150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge

By Helen Briggs
BBC News

29 January 2019

GETTY IMAGES

You'll find it on the wall of nearly every school chemistry laboratory in the land.

And generations of children have sung the words, "hydrogen and helium, lithium, beryllium..." in
an attempt to memorise some of the 118 elements.

This year, the periodic table of chemical elements celebrates its 150th birthday.

As the candles on the cake are lit, it's time to test your knowledge, with our quiz.

1 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Test your knowledge of the periodic table

It took a while to get the periodic table we know and love today. How much can you
remember?

Images: Getty, except where specified.

Good effort.

Your score:

3/6
You got some of the answers right.

Share your result

2 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

The United Nations has designated 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table to
celebrate "one of the most significant achievements in science".

In March, it will be 150 years since the Russian scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, took all of the
known elements and arranged them into a table.

Most of his ideas have stood the test of time, despite being conceived long before we knew
much about the stuff that makes up matter.

On Tuesday, the year will be officially launched in Paris. So, what's so special about this
iconic symbol of science?

Alien concept?
Dr Peter Wothers of the University of Cambridge is an expert on the subject.

PAUL WILKINSON

He thinks if aliens came down to Earth, this flag of science would not have escaped their
attention.

"Would an alien have a periodic table?" he says.

"I think they probably would, because it is something that is absolutely fundamental - this is not
just some creation of humans, there is something innate and fundamental to this - there's
chemical law, physical law behind this."

The laws of chemistry

Mendeleev (1834-1907) created his early periodic table in 1869. He took the 63 known elements
and arranged them into a table, mainly by their atomic mass.

Although he wasn't the first to do this, his interpretation involved a leap of ingenuity, in that he
put those with similar properties below each other into groups and left gaps for new elements to

3 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

be slotted in.

"People had been doing that for some time - but finally there was some natural basis - or some
law - that meant they needed to be arranged in some way," says Dr Wothers.

WELLCOME COLLECTION

One hundred and fifty years on, there have been fundamental shifts in our understanding of
matter.

"Obviously Mendeleev at the time knew nothing about the sub atomic structure of the atom, so
he was going on only the atomic weights, which weren't necessarily determined to the right
accuracy at the time," says Dr Wothers.

After the discovery of protons, scientists realised that the atomic number of an element is the
same as the number of protons in its nucleus. Thus, in the modern periodic table, the elements
are arranged according to their atomic number - not their relative atomic mass.

"We now know the 'how it works, why it works', and this is to do with quantum mechanics and
the arrangements of electrons in atoms and so on," he says.

GETTY IMAGES

4 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

There are now more than 100 elements, laid out in order of increasing atomic number. There are
repeating patterns in the properties of the elements, which give the periodic table its name.

Elements with similar properties are arranged to form columns (groups).

The periodic table is now a thing of both beauty and practical use, says Dr Wothers.

"You can understand certain things just by considering the place of an element in this table, or in
this arrangement, that's why it's so useful to chemists."

The joy of symmetry

This year, which has been designated the International Year of The Periodic Table, may also
represent its heyday.

Currently, the seventh period of the periodic table has been completed, with the recent addition
of four elements in December 2015.

UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS

5 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

This has made it "quite whole and beautiful", he says.

"At the moment - this very year - I think we are very privileged, because the periodic table is in its
most perfect form, " says Dr Wothers.

"And probably the most perfect form it will ever be in."

People are currently working on synthesising heavier elements, and, if they manage the task, the
periodic table will change yet again.

"As soon as just one more is discovered, then we'll have to start a row - the eighth period," he
says.

"And then it will lose some of its beauty, because the eighth period will never be completed I
think it's fair to say."

Follow Helen on Twitter.

Related Topics

Chemistry

Share this story About sharing

More on this story

Periodic table found at St Andrews University 'is world's oldest'

17 January 2019

Science & Environment

6 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Major expedition targets Thwaites Glacier

29 January 2019 Science & Environment

Fast food giants under fire on climate

29 January 2019 Science & Environment 149

7 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

‘Welcome to my high-fashion, trash shopping mall’

29 January 2019 Stories

Top Stories
PM will ask the EU to reopen Brexit deal
Theresa May tells the Commons she will seek "significant and legally binding changes" to her
plan.
57 minutes ago

MPs debate Brexit as May seeks changes

29 January 2019

MP jailed over speeding driver lie

1 hour ago

Features

Do I have to go to work in the snow?

8 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Why it's never too late to learn to swim

‘Welcome to my high-fashion, trash shopping mall’

'This is how we fed our babies'

9 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

'People think I'm faking my blindness'

Tracking down the PewDiePie hackers

10 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Will Brussels budge on the Irish backstop?

Getting lost in the world's biggest crowd

What has Trump achieved at half-way mark?

Elsewhere on the BBC

11 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Nowhere to hide
Three restaurants battle it out

Daily news briefing direct to your inbox

Sign up for our newsletter

Most Read
MPs debate Brexit as May seeks changes 1

Bruce McArthur: Canadian landscaper admits eight murders 2

Brexit: Theresa May will ask the EU to reopen Brexit deal 3

12 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Fiona Onasanya: Peterborough MP jailed in speeding case 4

Gas find in North Sea hailed as 'biggest in a decade' 5

US facing record low temperatures as polar vortex hits 6

Snow and ice hit parts of UK 7

Snow disruption: Is my boss expecting me at work? 8

BBC presenter Dianne Oxberry died from ovarian cancer 9

Met officer 'failed to pass on acid attack CCTV' 10

Why you can trust BBC News

BBC News Services

On your mobile

On your connected tv

Get news alerts

Contact BBC News

BBC Sounds

A new drama Are we What was Gemma

of power, getting more Russell Whelan
betrayal and allergic to Kane's worst remembers
fear food? date? her late
father
BBC SOUNDS BBC SOUNDS BBC SOUNDS BBC SOUNDS

13 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43
150 years of the periodic table: Test your knowledge... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-...

Home News

Sport Weather

iPlayer Sounds

CBBC CBeebies

Food Bitesize

Earth Arts

Make It Digital Taster

Local Tomorrow's World

TV Radio

Terms of Use About the BBC

Privacy Policy Cookies

Accessibility Help Parental Guidance

Contact the BBC Get Personalised Newsletters

Copyright © 2019 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our
approach to external linking.

14 of 14 29/01/2019, 21:43