Element Gallery

The Periodic Table Digital Illustration

In the late 19th century, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev published his first attempt at grouping chemical elements according to their atomic weights. There were only about 60 elements known at the time, but Mendeleev realized that when the elements were organized by weight, certain types of elements occurred in regular intervals, or periods.
Today chemists officially recognize 118 elements and still use Mendeleev's periodic table of elements to organize them. The table starts with the simplest atom, hydrogen, and then organizes the rest of the elements by atomic number, which is the number of protons each contains. With a handful of exceptions, the order of the elements corresponds with the increasing mass of each atom

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Fullerene molecule, computer artwork

Fullerene molecule. Computer artwork of the spherical fullerene molecule C320. Fullerenes are a structural type (allotrope) of carbon. The molecular model here shows the spherical arrangement of the 320 carbon atoms in rings of hexagons and a few pentagons. The spherical fullerenes are sometimes referred to as buckyballs, after the first such molecule to be discovered (C60, buckminsterfullerene). As of 2006, research is being conducted into the use of fullerenes for medical purposes. Fullerenes are also being investigated for their physical and chemical properties

© LAGUNA DESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Gold, Carnon Stream Works, Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England

Gold is a native element and precious metal which has been prized by mankind for thousands of years for its beauty, malleability and resistance to corrosion. This gold nugget is the largest known to have been found in Cornwall and weighs 1 oz t, 18 dwt. 6 grs. It was found in January 1808 in the Carnon Valley tin-stream works and bought by collector Philip Rashleigh in March of the same year. Rashleigh wrote in his Manuscript (112 Au): Native Gold found in Carnon Stream work in Cornwall weighs - 1 oz. 18 pw. 6 gr. Troy this piece has had all the extra matter picked out except a mite in one place the marks of many others remain. The smoothness of the piece shews the great time it has been washed by the water where it was exposed and the hollow parts more rough gives a proof of its not being manufactured'. In the ownership of Mr Wills, a silversmith from Truro, the find was reported in the Royal Cornwall Gazette on 6th February 1808 this is unquestionably the largest and most beautiful specimen ever found in Cornwall, or probably in any other country'. The paper reported in March 1808 that Rashleigh purchased the specimen from Mr Wills. Mineral analysis undertaken in 2018 indicates that the gold content in the nugget is in the high 90s while other gold nuggets from the Carnon Stream Works, which were analysed, are around the 70s. As a result, it has been suggested that this gold nugget may have been refined and worked into a forgery by the silversmith who sold it to Rashleigh. Rashleigh Collection

© RIC, photographer A.G. Tindle