Haven't signed into your Scholastic account before?
Teachers, not yet a subscriber?
Subscribers receive access to the website and print magazine.
You are being redirecting to Scholastic's authentication page...
2 min.
1 min.
Subscriber Only Resources
Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to Science World magazine.
Presentation View
Numbers in the News: The Periodic Table
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the periodic table.
SOVFOTO/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES
1869
The year Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev created the first periodic table.
63 vs. 118
Number of elements on the original periodic table versus number on it today.
77%
The percentage of elements on the table found in nature. Scientists created the rest in a lab.
24
Number of letters of the alphabet used at least once in elements’ symbols on the table. No elements contain Q or J.
THINK ABOUT IT: Can you identify one element from the periodic table named after a place, just by looking at its name? An astronomical body? A mythical figure?
SOURCES: AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, COMPOUND INTEREST
RELATED CONTENT