Space
How starlight reveals what a star is made of
The dark lines in a star’s rainbow identify atoms. Working out how much of each element is there requires another clue: what heat has done to their electrons.
Preparing the periodic table…
The Periodic Landscape
Choose an element. Look inside its atom.
Look inside
Drag to turn · pinch or scroll to zoom
More view controls
Creative sonification, not the sound of atoms.
Music off.Teaching model · not to scale. Rings are not electron paths. Read the explanation ↓
Preparing the 3D atom…
What am I looking at?
Go deeper · what this model leaves out
Protons and neutrons are called nucleons. The quark view shows their three valence quarks, which give their net quark content. Real nucleons also involve gluons and a sea of quark–antiquark pairs. Gluons carry the strong interaction. The spheres and lines are teaching symbols, not measured shapes or literal paths. Quarks cannot be pulled out as isolated particles. Electrons and quarks have no known smaller constituents.
Simplified teaching model. Moving circles help show the electron count and shell arrangement; real electrons do not follow these planetary paths. Sizes, spacing, tilted rings and animation speed are illustrative. Each level uses a different magnification; this is not a continuous scale zoom. Nucleus spheres count the protons and neutrons of the named isotope, but their positions and shapes are schematic. The quark view shows valence content, not a simulation of quantum motion. Colours distinguish particle types; they are not literal colours or quantum colour charges.
Inside a neutral atom
Protons carry positive charge; electrons carry negative charge. Neutrons, when present, have no electric charge. The neutron count depends on the isotope.
A real-world connection
Why it matters
How the music is made
Each atomic number chooses a short original pentatonic melody. Period sets a bounded register; group gently changes rhythm and timbre. Detached f-block elements use a soft sine tone. This is an artistic mapping, not a measured atomic frequency. Music starts only after you enable it and select an element. It turns off when you leave the page or hide the tab.
Choose an element
Readable HTML table · 118 elementsSymbols and atomic numbers · full names in the atom panel or list.Scroll sideways for all 18 groups, and down for the detached rows. Choose a tile to return to its atom.
118 elements · select any tile to look inside
| Number | Element | Family | Evidence |
|---|
Labels stay at base positions · constrained tilt keeps tiles apart · swipe sideways to see the whole table
Filters, comparison and landscape
0
Read left to right by atomic number. Columns bring together elements with related electron arrangements and often similar chemistry.
↳ The two detached rows belong inside periods 6 and 7.57–71 fit between Ba (56) and Hf (72). 89–103 fit between Ra (88) and Rf (104). They are moved below to keep the table compact.
Family colours help distinguish categories; full family names appear in the selected atom and list. These are broad teaching categories; boundaries and some heavy-element classifications vary. “Halogen” and “noble gas” describe group placement; the heaviest members may behave differently.
? Data unavailable ~ estimate † prediction ‡ method unspecifiedDiscover patterns, sources and model limitations
Everything around you is made from atoms. These 118 elements are the different kinds of atom. Their order reveals how matter behaves. Select any element to explore its rotating 3D atom.
Start with a small discovery
Three short, hands-on routesOne number gives an atom its identity.
The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus. Add a proton and you have a different element. In a neutral atom, the electron count equals the proton count.
Repeating patterns explain the shape.
Electron arrangements repeat as atomic number rises. This creates related columns. A new period usually adds a new outer shell; exceptions such as palladium show why the full electron configuration matters.
A landscape is a way to compare.
Higher columns mean a larger value of the chosen property, not a bigger or heavier atom. Each property has its own fixed linear scale. Missing data has a question mark, never a zero-height “measurement”.
KEEP FOLLOWING THE IDEA
Atoms at work in the wider world
Read how scientists use clues from elements to study stars, reveal hidden writing and date the past.
History
How light helps read writing that was erased
Reused manuscripts can retain traces of older ink. Different imaging methods measure different clues, which scholars must still interpret.
History
How a dying atom became archaeology's clock
Radiocarbon dating does not read a date stamped inside an object. It builds a probability from cosmic rays, living carbon, atomic counting, tree rings and archaeological context.