Simon Fraser University has a new educational toy: a giant interactive periodic table with real examples of the elements.
The table is an embedded wall display, about 10 feet long and six feet tall, with a box for each element.
"It's got all the elements, a sample of what they do, and the third thing is there's a touch screen," says SFU chemistry professor Daniel Leznoff. "You can touch each element, and a little movie pops up on two screens showing something the element does."
The silicon box, for example, includes a black solid and a computer chip.
Plutonium is represented by sand from a nuclear test site in the Nevada desert. (Plutonium is a radioactive element used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.)
"There are probably five atoms of plutonium in this sand," Leznoff said. "Normal people don't have plutonium."
The hi-tech periodic table is part of the chemistry department's renovations.
"We thought this would be a good opportunity to get this display as a showcase for chemistry. But what it's real purpose is, is to inspire the public and inspire the students to understand the importance of chemistry and the elements," Leznoff said. "And I couldn't think of a better way to do it than with this display."
Leznoff says that in the first couple of months hundreds of people have stopped by to look at it.
To periodic table is opposite the SFU chemistry department's main office, close to the academic quadrangle.
