9781422279526

No matter where you go, elements make up everything you see around you.

been manufactured and analyzed in a lab. These elements, alone or in combination with others, form and shape all the matter around us. From the air we breathe, to the water we drink, to the food we eat—all these things are made of elements. A lot of information about an element can be learned just by find- ing its location on the periodic table. The periodic table has under- gone several updates and reorganizations since it was first developed in 1869. The modern version of the table used today is arranged by increasing atomic number into rows and columns. Each element has a unique atomic number. It is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. For example, uranium has an atomic number of 92—there

The Chemistry of Everyday Elements

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