Talk:Periodic table

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Periodic table or periodic system?

It seems odd that periodic tables are sometimes referred to as periodic systems.

I say odd because a table is said to be:

"A systematic arrangement of numbers, words, symbols, etc., in a definite and compact form so as to show clearly some set of facts or relations."

So a table in this sense is a system.

Most periodic tables are tabular. And yes periodic tables come in all sorts of shapes. Yet furniture tables can be, for example, round, triangular, oval, wedge shaped or even spiral. They’re still all called tables, regardless of their shape.

While Mendeleev referred to his periodic "tables" as periodic systems he stuck with the tabular form all the way.

On the side of the cardboard box in which my Periodic Table Mug arrived are printed the following words: "The Periodic Table is a systematic arrangement of the elements…"

So, what gives? --- Sandbh (talk) 06:28, 18 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Grammar

Someone needs to learn how to spell! 2601:5C4:C400:9A10:B106:2849:3E30:1E40 (talk) 21:31, 7 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If you believe something needs to be fixed in the article, please make an edit request for it on this talk page. Thanks, ^Complex/_Rational 22:17, 7 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 15 August 2024

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Change "Metallic character increases going down a group and decreases from left to right across a period." to " Metallic character increases going down a group and from right to left across a period."

This makes it much easier to visualize the direction of increase of Metallic character across the table. The suggested sentence allows me to immediately "see" that Metallic character increases from top right to bottom left. Benji19967 (talk) 05:05, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done YBG (talk) 06:29, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Noble gas column (18) does not appear if user is not logged in to Wikipedia.

This applies to the table labeled "Overview" (the second table in the article). Column 17 is slightly cut off and column 18 is (the Noble elements) is missing completely. This happens while using Safari (v 17.6), Firefox (v 129.0.1), and Chrome (v 128.0.6613.85) on Mac OS v 14.6.1. However, if I log in to Wikipedia on any of those browsers, the table then appears with all 18 columns. Notafluke (talk) 20:47, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Notafluke: Do you get a scroll bar under the table? The whole thing also doesn't fit on my phone screen, but I can swipe it left and right to see the missing bits. Double sharp (talk) 03:49, 22 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't try my cellphone, but couldn't find any scrollbar on the table in Chrome. (I even tried clicking in several places in case the scrollbar was just not visible, but nothing happened.) Notafluke (talk) 14:18, 22 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Notafluke: Thanks for the information! I just tried it on my Chrome (while logged out), and can confirm that column 17 is slightly cut off and 18 doesn't appear. But I do get a scrollbar, that I can use to put 18 into view. I wonder if column 18 appears for you if you try to select text and drag to the right? Double sharp (talk) 14:32, 22 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]