International Year of the Periodic Table
On December 20, 2017 the United Nations General Assembly declared 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, according to the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry.
History
1869 is “is considered as the year of discovery of the Periodic System by Dmitri Mendeleev,” according to the IYPT website of the United Nations. This makes 2019 the 150th anniversary of the Periodic Table.
The IYPT website describes the Periodic Table as “one of the most significant achievements in science, capturing the essence not only of chemistry, but also of physics and biology.”
Elements in the table are arranged from left ot right and top to bottom in order of increasing atomic number. The rows of elements are called periods, hence the name of the table. For more information on the table, click here.
Important Historical Events
- Willard Libby and Radiocarbon Dating
- Production and Distribution of Radioisotopes at ORNLd Distribution of Radioisotopes at ORNL
- Neil Bartlett and the Reactive Noble Gases
- High Performance Carbon Fibers
- Discovery of Helium in Natural Gas at the University of Kansas
- Discovery of Transuranium Elements at Berkeley Lab
- Separaton of Rare Earth Elements by Charles James
- The Chemical Revolution of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier
- Production of Aluminum: The Hall-Héroult Process
- Electrolytic Production of Bromine by Herbert H. Dow
- Edward W. Morley and the Atomic Weight of Oxygen
- Joseph Priestley and the Discovery of Oxygen
Books about the Periodic Table
- The disappearing spoon : and other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements by Sam Kean
- The Last Sorcerers by Richard Morris
- The Periodic Table by Eric R. Scerri
- The Periodic Table and a Missed Nobel Prize by Norrby Erling; Erling Norrby (Editor); Ulf Lagerkvist
In the News
- 300 Years of Element Discovery in 99 Seconds
- 2019 International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements
- 2019: The year the periodic table gets its due
- Essential science: What are the limits of the periodic table?
- The evolution of the periodic table
- From the spiral to the subway map: The strange periodic tables chemists have created to try and explain the elements
- How Far Does the Periodic Table Go?
- Periodic table is 150: Who was Dmitri Mendeleev
- The periodic table is an icon. But chemists still can’t agree on how to arrange it
- The periodic table might have looked very different indeed
- This ‘Fossil’ Cloud of Pure Hydrogen Gas Could Be a Time Capsule of the Big Bang
- United Nations Declares 2019 The International Year Of The Periodic Table
Helpful Links
- Discover Periodic Tables The International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements 2019 (IYPT2019) is an ode to the Periodic Table. Via this page we provide some interesting links to start exploring the Periodic Table.
- Periodic Table by Los Alamos National Laboratory Originally this online resource was created by Robert Husted at Los Alamos National Laboratory during his time as a Graduate Research Assistant, circa 1992. It was given a face lift during 2002/2003 by Mollie Boorman, then a student working at the Laboratory.
In 2011, it was again re-designed and updated by Maida Trujillo of the Chemistry Division web team with technical and writing assistance from Dave Hobart and Josh Smith, both of Chemistry Division. - Periodic Table by Royal Society of Chemistry A clickable periodic table with information about each of the elements.
- Periodic Videos Tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the 19th century – but this modern version has a short video about each one.
- The Photographic Periodic Table of the Elements An online periodic table reference site including technical data, and photographs and descriptions of thousands of samples of the chemical elements.
Activites
- Periodic Table Challenge Get in Your Element! Pick your element to play. Test your knowledge of the elements against the Periodic Table Challenge. Do well (at least 12 out of 20 questions correct) and you can advance to the Nobelium Contest for a chance to win a limited edition IUPAC Periodic Table autographed by a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry!
- Mendeleev Mosaic Mendeleev Mosaic, a companion project Timeline of Elements project by the University of Waterloo. Wanted artwork images of Dmitri Mendeleev by students, teachers and all chemistry enthusiast to create one large mosaic of the Father of the Periodic Table.
Celebratory Events
Several events are taking place related to the International Year of the Periodic Table. For a full list visit the year’s website.
You can also follow the Twitter account here.
Events include:
- January 4 – India – Seminar on the Contribution of Mendeleev – A True Genius
- Jauary 29 – Official IYPT2018 Grand Opening – Paris, France
- February 8 – Opening Ceremony in Russia
- February 11-12 – International Symposium “Women and July 26-28 – International Conference on the Periodic Table, endorsed by IUPAC
For a full map of world events, click here.