Circular Periodic Table of the Elements
Mohd Abubakr has redrawn the classic periodic table in a circular pattern to improve the proximity and relationships between the elements.
So why change it? According to Mohd Abubakr from Microsoft Research in Hyderabad, the table can be improved by arranging it in circular form. He says this gives a sense of the relative size of atoms--the closer to the centre, the smaller they are--something that is missing from the current form of the table. It preserves the periods and groups that make Mendeleev's table so useful. And by placing hydrogen and helium near the centre, Abubakr says this solves the problem of whether to put hydrogen with the halogens or alkali metals and of whether to put helium in the 2nd group or with the inert gases.
The strongest feedback about the new circular table is that you have to rotate it to read it. Kind of a problem when you print a poster and post it in a classroom or a laboratory. Although I think it's an easy thing to remedy by changing the orientation of the text.
Original post on Technology Review by MIT, and found on VizWorld by Randall Hand.
