With our atom model projects coming up soon, I thought it would be extremely interesting to discuss the news just announced about the periodic table. "The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced that they've approved new weights for the elements thanks to more precise measurements and better calculations of the abundance of certain isotopes (atoms of an element with different numbers of neutrons)" (Gannon, 2013).
According to this article, the atomic weight has been changed for 19 elements. Several of these elements include gold, fluorine, phosphorous, and aluminum. Along with these more common elements, 15 additional elements also had their atomic weight changed. So, why does this matter? What do these changes affect? I want you to think about all that we have learned and discussed in class. We know science is full of concepts that are all closely related to each other. Do these changes to the periodic table only affect chemistry? What other science topics and subjects does it affect? Finally, do you think that these changes will require scientists to redo past experiments that relied strongly on the initial atomic weights? Maybe there are scientific laws and theories that will be affected, as a result. Research several related laws and theories and be sure to share your findings.
Periodic Table Article: Click Here To Read
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