The year Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev created the first periodic table.
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
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
Back to top