Download - Magic and the periodic table of the elements
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Magic and the Periodic Table of the ElementsG4G11, Atlanta, 20/3/2014
Miquel DURAN Institute of Computational Chemistry and Catalysis
Universitat de [email protected] http://miquelduran.net @miquelduran
This presentation is available at http://slideshare.net/quelgir
Fernando BLASCO Depto. Matemática Aplicada, ETSI Montes
Universidad Politécnica de [email protected] http://fblasco.com @fblascoc
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
My tweetCV
• University professor. Research in Quantum Chemistry. Digital Science Communication, Magic and Science, MOOCs, TEDx events, Open Knowledge (see also @quelet)
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
But look.. Girona has the best socializing chemical lab in the world
i.e., the best restaurant - “El Celler de Can Roca”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/e_calamar/6937429192/
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
The ancient Periodic Table of the Elements:water, earth, wind and fire
(From Wikipedia). 4 elements to Alchemy – Other cultures had more elements
Row: Humidity similarColumn: Temperature similar
Wind FireWater Earth
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
The current Periodic Table of the Elements
Girona’s Periodic Table of the Elements
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Gardnerine: alkaloid from Gardneria plant - C20H24N2O2
Image from wikipedia
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Martin Gardner’s books and the PTE
• The last recreations: Hydras, Eggs, and Other Mathematical Mystifications: “The wonders of a planiverse”
• Sixth book of Mathematical Diversions: – Extraterrestrial communication: the inhabitants of Planet
X might understand a description of the periodic table of elements more readily than a description of a house or tree
– Wolfgang Pauli's exclusion principle, which finally explained the structure of the periodic table of elements, was the outcome of combinatorial thinking.
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
G4G11… or should it be Ga4Ga11 ?Or GaBeGaNa ?
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
And also…
Or should it be GaGaGa aka Ga3 (Gathering for Gardner in Georgia)
Curiosity: Gallium (Ga) has atomic number #31, but Georgia (GA) ZIP code is #30 ! A near miss!And Gallium is used to bend spoons in actual magic performances
G4G11 is held in At La N Ta !
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Chemical elements in Magic
• Helium: change voice of magician• Nitrogen: in liquid state – petrifier• Zinc – cooper to silver coins• Gallium – spoon bending• Posphorous – fireworks (3 allotropes)• Iodine – gives color to starch• Sulfur• Mercurium – pulsating effect
Spoon bending kit, Amazon
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Chemical elements in Magic
• Beauty of Bismuth Cristals
• All kinds of alloys – memory materials– Magnets, e.g. Neodimium
Source: wikipedia
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
• 2011: International Year of Chemistry• 2014: Now International Year of
Crystallography: Quasycristalls, Penrose Tiles, Art, Golden Ratio, and a Gilbreath-related trick by De Bruijn
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Cards, Periodic Table and so
• One-to-one correspondence btw atomic symbols and atomic numbers
• Periodic table characteristic: one of the rare ways Nature provides natural numbers.
• There are ca. twice elements (103) as standard poker cards (52)
• The number of lantanides and actinides is ca. the number of cards in a suit (13)
• Main columns are length 5 - suitable for poker games and trick
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Adapting classical MG game
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Classical MG game (SciAm version)
4 pairs: H/O, C/Al, Fe/As, Mo/BrThey sum up to Pb !Four double-numbered cards: MG game, triple outcome. Each card has x and x+n. Prediction must be 4x+2n.
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
• Calendar tricks can be translated into PTE.• Gilbreath-2 tricks: 2 columns, 2 rows, two groups• Gilbreath-4 tricks: same• Gibreath-n for a particular row or column• Fibonacci-related tricks, (Hydrogen, Helium,
Lithium, Boron, Oxygen, Aluminum, ...)• Parity games• Spelling• The dream row-column
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Two key properties of TPE that may provide new tricks + games
• PTE has a correspondence between numbers and 1- and 2-letter atomic symbols. Thus one can mask numbers while teaching TPE.
• Symbols are either one- or two-letter, and their order is relevant.
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Now a small trick to teach a few atomic symbols
• Write 7 cards each with H, N, C, T, B, R, G• Write 7 cards, 3 with A and 4 with E (or
opposite)• Duplicate if necessary (total of 14 or 28 cards).• Alternate, Rosseta or Riffle Shuffle, or make 2
stacks (Gilbreath-2)• Show that you always get a valid Element!
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Two more things…
• Carbon: C60, graphene, …– Nobel Prize 1996: fullerenes– Nobel Prize 2010: graphene– Nobel Prize 2011: quasicrystals
• Chirality and Martin Gardner– Chiral Apples– Chiral Hypercard– Chiral tetrominoes and pentominoes
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Clathrus ruber: a fullerenic mushroom
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
(Endo)fullerenes
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Relation to the Gilbreath principle and Martin Gardner
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
• Atomic model of an aluminium-palladium-manganese (Al-Pd-Mn) quasicrystal surface
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
MG apples: useful to teach Chirality
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
All chemistry is magic
• Chemistry is magic itself
• We plan a MOOC “Magic, Science and Confessable Secrets”
(MOOC: Massive Open Online Course)
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
And now a question for you… think of your badge and answer…
How many symmetric two-letter pairs can you find in the Periodic Table of the Elements?e.g.; As/SaHow many of them are fully consonantic?Which vowel is dominant?
(i.e., gamification of the PTE)
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Take home message
• I’m a (quantum) chemist, but I’m not a bad guy…
• Chemistry is magic• There’s chemistry in magic: it creates bonds
• Thanks!
Miquel Duran @miquelduran http://miquelduran.net [email protected]
Key ideas to (tweet and to) take away
• The Periodic Table of the Elements is a valuable tool in magic, and magic is a valuable tool, in turn, to teach the PTE
• There is no Chemical Magic. Chemistry is magic itself.
• Education is not a preparation for life.. Education is life itself
• Let me introduce you to my favourite chemist – Panoramix
• Thank you!
• This presentation is available at http://slideshare.net/quelgir