The Beginning of the Elements

and
Early Periodic Tables
 Where did the elements come from?
• At the start of the universe (and what existed
before this no one really knows) the
temperatures were extremely high – around
100 000 000 000 K!
• The universe was just a quark-gluon plasma
• Scientists theorize that the universe was
mostly photons, neutrinos, anti-neutrinos
with a small number of protons and neutrons
• Because everything was so dense, these
particles collided with each other
• The collisions eventually caused three major results:

 First, the universe reached thermal equilibrium

 Electrons and positrons were constantly interacting

and annihilating each other (E = mc2)

This process released photons (quanta of energy)

 Protons and Neutrons began converting into each

other

p+ + v  n0 + e+
p+ + e-  n0 + v

Since neutrons are slightly heavier, more energy was needed to

change protons into neutrons, and an inequality began in favor
of proton forming rxns
This process is called Nucleosynthesis
• So, due to the super high temperatures and density,
the e-, e+, p+, and n0 began to collide
– They got close enough for the Strong Force to take over
allowing nuclei to form
• The first element was the nucleus of an isotope of
Hydrogen, Deuterium (2H) – a p+, n0
• This was joined by a p+ and formed 3He
• Then, with another n0, 4He formed
(the stable form)
• With the capture of free e-, a stable atom was made
The elemental fusion process begins

• It all started with loose particles, and then H

• From this start, He formed through fusion
• Then the process took off – well, actually
taking millions and billions of years. . . . .

3He+2 + 4He+2  7Li+3 + e- + ϒ

or  7Be+4 + ϒ
2He
4 x 3  6C12
C12 + 2He4  8O16
6 and then. . . . .
2 x 6C12  12 Mg24

2 x 6C12  10 Ne20 + 2He4

2 x 8O16  14 Si28 + 2He4

2 x 8O16  16 S22

16 S32 + 2He4  Ar36

18

18 Ar36 + 2He4  20 Ca40

20 Ca40 + 2He4  22 Ti44

22 Ti44 + 2He4  24Cr48

24 Cr48 + 2He4  26 Fe52

• For H to fuse into He, it took about 7 million
years
• For He into C and O – about 500 000 years
• For C and O to go through the fusion process
and form Ne and Mg, only about 600 years
• Ne and O formed into Si and S in about 6
months
• And Si into Fe, where the process stops – only
about one day was needed
• It stops with Fe because it is very stable
So, where did everything come from?
• The elements formed, and as they did, the
heavier ones bonded and exerted a
gravitational force pulling others into
themselves
• Planets formed, but more important, stars
were born
• H and He coalesced into concentrated areas of
gas – and with gravity – stars formed
Star elements.
• H and He joined and started the fusion
process to form nebulas
– As the gravity these elements exerted pulled
inwards, the velocity of the atoms and the internal
temperature increased immensely
– With a higher density, more collisions occurred
– This created a plasma center and a fusion energy
source that gives off high levels of energy
– Fusion is an exothermic rxn – (gives off energy)
Nucleosynthesis in sum:
The Life Cycle of a Star
•The life cycle of a star is determined by its mass
– more mass, shorter life cycle
•The original matter coalesces into a Nebula
•Over time, the H gas in the nebula pulls
together and its gravity makes it spin
•As the temperature approaches
15 000 000 000 degrees, fusion begins and a
sun is started
The Crab Nebula
Orion Nebula
Rosette Nebula
Eagle Nebula
Helix Nebula
Menkhib-California Nebula
Seagull Nebula
Wizard Nebula
Starburst
Space Dust

Young Stars
Planetary Collisions Add Even More
Elements into the Universe
• The H becomes He through fusion, releases
massive amounts of energy in the process
• As the H runs out, the star cools and becomes
a Red Giant
– Eventually, the He goes through the fusion
process and becomes carbon causing the gravity
to increase its pull inwards
• As the core collapses, a White Dwarf is
formed
• The tug-of-war between gravity and fusion
causes the star to go Supernova
Nucleosynthesis in a Star
Gravitational Collapse
Supernova Stars
 The Star’s End is Near. . . . .
• As the fusion process continues towards Fe, its instability
increases
–When the core is Fe, fusion stops and since more energy is used than
released, in less than a second, there is a gravitational collapse of the
star
–The core temp reaches 100 000 000 000 degrees or more, and the
repulsive force of the nuclei overcome the force of gravity

–The star explodes – showering the universe with

its elements
–As the elements fly out, many are fused into newer, heavier elements
and isotopes, as well as radiation
• After the Supernova explodes, the remnants become a
Neutron Star with massive density and gravitational force
• Soon, the Neutron Star will swallow itself and become a Black
Hole
Neutron Star Cross Section:
Dark Matter to Matter?
 The Early Periodic Table
Although alchemists classified elements for
centuries according to their own schemes, it was
not until 1789 that the first real scientific listing
of the elements was made.

Antoine Lavoisier listed elements

that could not be further broken
down in his book on Chemistry.
•Whereas he correctly listed some elements, he
mistakenly listed light and caloric (heat) as
elements also
• Johannes Dobereiner (1780-1849)
– He grouped elements based on similarities
– He also noticed a trend when he did this
•For example:
Ca (40); Sr (88) and then Ba (137) would be grouped
together
However: Sr is the average of the two elements
around it!
(40 + 137) / 2 = 88
This was also noted for other groups like Cl, Br and I;
and Li, Na and K
• In 1829, Dobereiner set up what he called the
Law of Triads
– As more and more elements were found, and
more accurate information attained about them,
the Law of Triads fell to the wayside
Alexandre Bequeyer de Chancourtois (1820-86)

• de Chancourtois listed the elements

according to their atomic weight
• The unique thing was that he
wrapped the information around
a cylinder – more of a
periodic pole than table
John Newlands (1837-98)
• By the time Newlands worked, there were 62
known elements
• He also grouped them according to their
atomic weight
– He noted that after 8 elements, there were similar
properties
• In 1863, he called these groupings the Law of
Octaves
– This too was discarded as more knowledge was
gained
August Kekule (1858) and
Julius Lothar Meyer (1870)
• Both scientists grouped the known elements
(49 at the time) into groups based on valency
– This is the outermost orbit of electrons and how
many electrons are in that orbit
Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907) is given usually given
credit for developing the first periodic table based on
atomic weight and properties – it allowed him to
predict new elements.

His predictions were proven true with the discovery

of gallium, scandium and germanium
However, it was Henry Moseley (1887-1915)
who set it up using the atomic number (Z)

He used x-rays to note the frequency of the

element as well as the number of
p+

The chart became arranged

according to atomic number
rather than atomic weight
Glenn Seaborg (1912-1999)
• Seaborg bombarded U-238 with n0 and created the
transuranium
elements, #94 through 102
• He created Neptunium and
Plutonium in 1940
– For this he would win the
Nobel Prize for Chemistry!!!!!
• Eventually – element #106
would be named for him
and his accomplishments
in 1974
 Today’s Periodic Chart
• As of today – we have 118 elements
• 94 of these occur naturally on Earth –
although we are discovering some of the
others in very small trace amounts
• #43, 61 and those above #83 have no stable
isotopes
• Francium - #87 was the last natural element
found (1939)
 Some Elemental Trivia. . . . . .
• Element 117, ununseptium, is the newest
element
– 6 atoms were made in Russia in April 2010
– Official names will be chosen later by an
international committee
• #118, ununoctium, was made in 2008
• The rarest elements are Protactium (#91) and
Astatine (#85) with only about 1 oz existing on
Earth!
• The most expensive element is Rhodium at
$2500 per ounce (used in jewelry and airplane
sparkplugs); followed by Platinum ($1544/oz);
Gold ($1243/oz) and Iridium ($750/oz)
• Tellurium has the longest radioactivity – a
half-life of 8 x 1024 years
• Beryllium is the shortest at 2.7 x 10-21 seconds
• The most common element is, of course,
hydrogen which makes up 72% of the universe
• Only Hg and Br are naturally liquids –
everything else are gases or solids
There are 10 Elements have
symbols that don’t match their
names!
Symbol Name Original Name
Sb Antimony Stibium
Au Gold Aurium
Fe Iron Ferrum
Pb Lead Plumbium
Hg Mercury Hydrargyrium
K Potassium Kalim (Potash)
Ag SilverArgentum
Na Sodium Natrium
Sn Tin Stannum
W Tungsten Wolfram
Of course, there are other forms of
the Periodic Chart. . . . .
 Next Up
• Next up is a closer examination
of the Periodic Chart and its
components
• The Periodic Trends and
Elemental Groups and Periods
• Be prepared to learn and study!