The next step in preparing the way for the Periodic Table was the development of exact analytical methods to give precise atomic weights. Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779-1848) is widely credited with establishing several of these standard methods, while raising the sophistication of laboratory chemistry to new heights during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Berzelius’ laboratory skill and imagination were legendary: In 1818, he determined precise atomic weights for 45 of the known 49 elements, and by the end of his career he had characterized several new chemical elements, including thorium, silicon, cerium and zirconium. He also instituted the modern method of chemical symbols, using simple alphabet letters to represent chemical elements. “There is no living chemist to whom analytical chemistry lies under greater obligation than to Berzelius, whether we consider the number or the exactness of the analyses which he has made.” – Scottish biographer Thomas Thomson (1773-1852).
Explore the elements by decade:
- 1815-1824: selenium, cadmium, silicon
- 1825-1834: aluminum, bromine, thorium
- 1835-1844: lanthanum, terbium, erbium, ruthenium
Read more: "Berzelius' World," by James Marshall, a Chem 13 News article (September 2019).
1815-1824: selenium, cadmium, silicon
Selenium, 34
Waterford West, Queensland, Australia
Teacher: Daniel Bischa
Artist: Jaceb Blake
The following aspects of selenium are represented:
- Moon: selenium was named after the Greek word for moon.
- Red: one allotrope of selenium is red (the other grey) and it is used in glass to give a red colour or balance the colour from other impurities.
- Jöns Jacob Berzelius: discovered selenium in 1817.
- Selenium rectifier: a common early use for selenium.
- Paint.net was used to blend the images that had licences that allowed re-use with modification.
Cadmium, 48
Breslau, Ontario, Canada
Teacher: Marianne Bruinsma
Artist: Olivia Lise
Friedrich Stromeyer, a German chemist discovered cadmium in 1817. Cadmium is used commonly for rechargeable batteries. Cadmium is a metal. In 1912, a Japanese mining company released cadmium into the Jinzū River killing fish and causing Itai-itai disease. Now know for its toxicity, Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and “Sunflower” painting likely used cadmium as a pigment for reds, oranges and yellows. My artwork was made digitally using Paint Tool Sai and my digital art tablet. I did traditional concept sketches, but ended up doing it digitally based on the sketches.
Silicon, 14
Breslau, Ontario, Canada
Teacher: Sarah Regli
Artist: Max Dai
Silicon is a semiconducting material that serves as the basis for many electronic devices. The inspiration for the artwork was a circuit board, seemingly so simple, yet so powerful and life-changing in a technological world. The colour scheme used is to represent the first preparation and characterization of silicon by Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1823.
1825-1834: aluminum, bromine, thorium
Aluminum, 13
Tannum Sands, Queensland, Australia
Teacher: Lisa Mazzer
Artists: Hannah Brooke, Lhea Hermosa and Sarah Leu
Aluminium is extracted from its ore bauxite. The use of aluminium exceeds that of any other metal except iron as its properties make it suitable for many design and fabrication purposes. It is soft and lightweight with a dull silvery appearance, non-toxic, non-magnetic and non-sparking. Aluminium atoms have 13 electrons which is why it is element 13. In artwork design, the discoverer of aluminium, Hans Christian Østerd, who first successfully extracted from bauxite in 1825, was made prominent. The background is an old village from the 1820s and the atomic number and symbol are included.
Bromine, 35
Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil
Teacher: Alfredo Luis Mateus
Artists: Fernanda Narciso Dias, Larissa Venâncio de Faria and Maria Eduarda Alves Viana
We discussed in class about the periodic table and the element timeline. We brainstormed ideas about bromine. The main aspects selected were: its use on photographic film, on medicines and pesticides, the discovery, its occurrence in sea water and algae, and the bad smell that gave bromine its name. The students made drawings that were scanned and colorized on the computer. This was a very collaborative work, with the help of our art teacher.
Thorium, 90
Leksvik, Trøndelag, Norge
Teacher: Maria Elisabeth Sletvold
Artist: Leksvik Kjemi 1
Norwegian priest Morten Thrane Esmark found some black mineral samples on Løvøya, which he couldn't identify. His father, a professor of mineralogy, sent the samples to Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius. Berzelius was credited for discovering the element thorium in these mineral samples. Thorium is named after Thor, the Norse god of Thunder- also depicted in the artwork.
1835-1844: lanthanum, terbium, erbium, ruthenium
Lanthanum, 57
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Teacher: Katherine Fogarty
Artist: Labonno Ranga
While researching about the discovery of lanthanum, I came across an experiment that Carl G. Mosander conducted looking for impurities within samples of cerium. I discovered that he slowly poured dilute nitric acid onto cerium nitrate in order to expose the possible impurities existing in the samples of cerium. He found a new substance in the test tube which he later named lanthanum. I thought what better way to portray the history of the finding of lanthanum than to illustrate the experiment that had unintentionally found the element.
Terbium, 65
Ankeny, Iowa, U.S.A.
Teacher: Mark Hey
Artist: Jordan Su
Terbium was discovered in 1843 by Carl Gustav, and has 26 isotopes. Terbium is a rare earth metal, but it’s still found in a lot of items that are used every day. Terbium is found in speakers, earbuds, laser pointers, x-rays, low energy light bulbs and medical x-rays. Because of its many uses, I tried to put as many of its uses into my terbium piece. In addition, an alloy of terbium, dysprosium, and iron forms the basis of “flat” speakers, and its ability to manipulate magnetic fields is what gives terbium this ability; also portrayed in my art.
Erbium, 68
Wigan, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Teacher: Dr. Mick Grady
Artist: Conall Jones
In our research we found that erbium, a rare earth metal, was discovered in Ytterby, a small town located in Sweden, by Carl Gustav Mosander. Yttrium, ytterbium and terbium were also discovered here.
The artwork shows a sign post, Mosander, and a laser as it has found use in lasers and fiber optics due to its unique optical properties. The colour scheme of grey and pink reflect the pale silver colouration of the element and its naturally occurring form of erbium oxide which is a pink powder used to pigment glass or glazes.
Ruthenium, 44
Masterton, Wellington Region, New Zealand
Teacher: Ailsa Andrew
Artists: James Malsher, Logan Purvis, Lucas Abbott, Teagan Abbott
Discovered by Karl Klaus in 1844, ruthenium is a precious metal used in alloys and only found in the Ural Mountains (represented by the background mountain scene). In 2018 researchers at University of Minnesota identified that it is the fourth element that displays ferromagnetic properties (represented by the horseshoe magnet) at room temperature. The Sun represents one of its current uses in solar panels.