About - Ptable

How do I cite Ptable in my bibliography?

APA

Dayah, M. (1997, October 1). Periodic Table - Ptable. Ptable. https://ptable.com

MLA

Dayah, Michael. Periodic Table - Ptable. Ptable, 1 Oct. 1997, ptable.com. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

What makes Ptable different?

A true web application: Many periodic tables describe themselves as "interactive" while offering nothing more than links to pages of data about elements. Write-ups are great, and Ptable outsources these to the heavily-curated and quickly-revised Wikipedia. Ptable shines when used as a true application, more interactive and dynamic than any other. Continue reading to learn about all the interesting things Ptable does that make Mendeleev's creation come to life.

Side bar or top bar: Whether you prefer data above the table, beside it, or seeing the table by itself, Ptable has you covered. Select the top/sidebar buttons in the top right, or click the Ptable logo to hide all properties.

Dark mode: Eyes burning from staring at your screen during a late night homework session? Click the dark mode icon in the top right for relief as you power through the night.

Installable app for offline use: Whether on mobile or desktop, you can install Ptable using either "add to homescreen" or on desktop, 🕀 on the right inside of the address bar. You'll be able to view properties, isotopes, and mix compounds all while offline.

Read while you browse: Want to read about elements while perusing the table? Write-up windows can be torn off or docked to the edges (depending on your pop-up blocker settings) to allow simultaneous use of the table while reading.

Instantly change layouts: Use the check boxes at the top of the page to dynamically switch between simple, with names, with electron configuration, and inline inner transition metals. As you resize your browser, Ptable resizes with it.

Pages of properties: Move your pointer over any element to instantly update properties as well as view a closeup of that element with its electron configuration. Unit conversions are available when appropriate.

Choose your data: Want to see electron configurations for all the elements at the same time? Any selected property replaces atomic weight for all elements in the table.

Visualize trends: Does atomic radius increase or decrease with group? Select it and the color of all elements will change in proportion to their values.

Reliable source data: Data is acquired from primary sources and curated libraries such as the excellent Wolfram|Alpha. Layout and presentation were reviewed by the world's foremost periodic table academic Eric Scerri and match the official layout offered by IUPAC, another standards body Ptable keeps in touch with for new standard atomic weights. Significant digits are preserved in readouts whenever space permits. Translations and non-English element names, however, should be considered no more reliable than Wikipedia.

State of matter slider: Drag the slider above the nonmetals and see the state of matter of each element at that temperature.

Time machine: Select discovery year to use the slider to go back in time and display only the elements discovered by that year.

Property subsets: Once you've selected a property, the slider area reveals related subsets. After selecting radius, covalent, empirical, calculated, and van der Waals radii are available. All told, the slider area exposes another 17 properties in addition to the 15 shown, not including the first 30 ionization energies, allowing efficiency functioning on multiple levels and in multiple dimensions.

Orbitals: Complete orbital readout for each element's ground state, quantum numbers, oxidation states, and diagram following Hund's rules. Hover over each electron pair for a 3-D view of that orbital that you can drag to rotate or hover over the element to view its highest occupied atomic orbital.

Isotopes: Click an element in the isotope view to overlay selected or all known isotopes. Hover over to fan through like a deck of cards as 12 properties update including half-life. Borders indicate primary decay mode. Drag them around for better positioning.

Compound mixing: Click elements in the compounds tab to see possible compounds they form, complete with Wikipedia articles when available. As you narrow your search, other elements that do not form compounds with your chosen elements will dim. Elements that do combine will show the number of potential compounds in their atomic weight area. Colors mimic standard stick-and-ball model colors.

Compound searching: Type the CAS number or name of a compound to find all matching compounds. As you search, elements not in matching compounds will dim. Typing acid in the slider area search box dims all but the nonmetals. Looking at the numbers in the atomic weight area, we can see that there are about 300-400 acids, and most contain hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen.

Formula searching: Enter a formula into the slider area search box to find all compounds matching those elements, regardless of the order in which you enter them. Require an exact formula by adjusting the miniature elements in the slider area or entering the formula's subscript numbers.

Dozens of languages: Element names in dozens of languages. If your browser sends a compatible language header, you'll be automatically served the site in the language you prefer. Force a different language using the drop down box. Why is it important for the periodic table to be offered in so many languages?

Symbol origins: Why is lead Pb and mercury Hg? Choose the Latin translation to see the origin of element symbols.

Instant search: Can't seem to find an element? Type its name, symbol, or atomic number into the box at the top right and it will instantly highlight. You can even do advanced searches. Entering ~200 in the first tab finds the element with atomic weight nearest 200. Searching for =3 in Orbitals highlights all elements with oxidation state +3. Even expressions like >1000 or 400-800 confine results to those ranges for every property in every tab, including fanned isotopes.

Mobile and tablet friendly: Layouts for phone and your tablet allow viewing on the go in both portrait and landscape rotations.

Deep linking: Want to save the URL for a specific visualization or send someone a link to a list of compound search results you're viewing? Just send them the URL in the address bar and they will see what you are seeing.

Printable: Print any view or visualization you can see. The print style sheet will take care of removing extraneous clutter. Just remember to print background colors, select landscape, and minimize the margins.

Latest new elements: The day a new element is discovered or synthesized, we'll have the details for you. We even keep up with new, more precise relative atomic weights as IUPAC publishes them and keep in touch with prominent chemistry scholars and standards bodies regarding the layout of the table and categorization of elements, which are much more fluid than you might imagine.

Small and fast: Built from the ground up to be extremely fast and efficient, Ptable is pure JavaScript made with no frameworks or libraries. Other sites' strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on libraries. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as Ptable.

Keyboard accessible: Not a mouse user? Your keyboard's tab and arrow keys expose the full functionality of the site. Enter and Escape open and close the Wikipedia window, fan isotopes, or lock elements in place, just like you'd expect.

Flexible interface: Whether you prefer to hover around or click to view data, the site accommodates you by offering a click-to-lock interface in the Properties and Electrons tabs. Hovering accesses most of the interactivity until the first click, which locks whatever element you're viewing in place until another is clicked or the same element is clicked again to revert to hover mode. Hovering is never necessary to reveal data or interactivity; clicks do it all—important for tablets and interactive whiteboards like the SMART Board.

Can I buy a poster?

Yes! Ptable's periodic table poster is available and designed for distance legibility. It goes together great with our free printouts and lesson plans.

Can I print Ptable?

The PDF can be distributed as is in printed form without permission provided it or whatever it is included in is not sold for any amount of money. It must also be offered in its original form with no additional or removed branding. Contact me if this is unclear or to inquire about including it in published materials. I'll most likely let you use it but request a copy of whatever it's going into, but not unless you ask.

Can I link to Ptable?

Please do! Others' links are what made it popular enough in search engines for you to find it in the first place.

Can I upload Ptable to my site?

You can frame or embed the site using <iframe src="https://ptable.com/" width="1024" height="860"></iframe> (varying height and width as desired), but do not save the site or any portion of it and then offer it to others through electronic means including but not limited to a website, CD, or flash drive. While the periodic table itself is public domain, the web application I've created is copyrighted, and Ptable™ is a legally-enforced trademark (#87536072) protected by international intellectual property law that is enforcable worldwide.

Secondary reproductions in an educational context are allowed. For example, recording and annotating a video of the site to illustrate periodic trends and then uploading this to YouTube is acceptable.

I learned to program years ago by viewing source and seeing how sites were made. If you're genuinely curious about how Ptable works, reach out to me and I will provide you with the relevant unobfuscated source to examine.

When was Ptable made?

Ptable has a rich history stretching back to September 1997, a year before the founding of Google. It was introduced as a piece of HTML artwork and published to the web October 1, 1997. Simple dictionary element descriptions were added later in December. A version utilizing HTML 4 and CSS was introduced March 1999 (revolutionary at the time) and replaced the original version September 2004. Wikipedia integration and the addition of other languages came in August 2005. Dynamic layout switching was later added in September. The first layout that didn't require horizontal scrolling wasn't available until October 2006. Interactivity was radically enhanced throughout summer 2007 with properties, electrons, and isotopes, followed by the addition of compounds in 2012. The quarantine of 2020 was spent doing a complete redesign and enhancement continues into our present period of time. Enjoy historic versions or view the recent changelog.

Privacy policy

This web server retains only standard access logs. They are not shared with any entity, and no personal information is collected.

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Bugsnag collects JavaScript errors you encounter for debugging and is GDPR and CCPA compliant.
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Who runs Ptable?

Selfie of Michael in a hospital hallway flanked by two volunteers Ptable is the creation of and is solely owned, designed, programmed, and maintained by Michael Dayah. Despite buyout offers on a monthly basis for decades from ad companies and multinational edtechs, it will always remain free and independent. How often do you find a vestige of the old internet—a self-sufficient site beholden to no investors, no educational conglomerate trying to lock you into some co-branded walled garden? Help keep Ptable an anomaly. Your support, whether financial, social (telling others about its functionality), or emotional (writing me a letter) is a message that says you value the existence of sites like Ptable and want them to continue doing what they do best on their own terms.

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Short on funds? Write me a letter telling me what you like or dislike about Ptable, how it's helped you, and what you'd like to see added. You can also send Ptable a postcard. You may even receive something fun in reply.

Ptable
PO Box 10002
Knoxville, TN