The periodic table has been around since 1869 when Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev put the elements in ascending order of atomic size. He was even left gaps in the table for elements that had not yet been discovered. Recently, the periodic table got a new look. In the past elements that did not have a static atomic weight were given an average weight on the table. Now, 10 elements with fluctuating weights will be displayed as a range instead of a single number. There are two new elements that were added to the periodic table just this year. They don't have names yet but go by the numbers 114 and 116. These elements were created by smashing atoms together and only existed for a couple of seconds.
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Check out this fascinating book 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