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


My tweetCV

• University professor. Research in Quantum Chemistry. Digital Science Communication, Magic and Science, MOOCs, TEDx events, Open Knowledge (see also @quelet)


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/


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


The current Periodic Table of the Elements

Girona’s Periodic Table of the Elements


Gardnerine: alkaloid from Gardneria plant - C20H24N2O2

Image from wikipedia


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.


G4G11… or should it be Ga4Ga11 ?Or GaBeGaNa ?


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 !


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


Chemical elements in Magic

• Beauty of Bismuth Cristals

• All kinds of alloys – memory materials– Magnets, e.g. Neodimium

Source: wikipedia


• 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


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


Adapting classical MG game


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.


• 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


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.


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!


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


Clathrus ruber: a fullerenic mushroom


(Endo)fullerenes


Relation to the Gilbreath principle and Martin Gardner


• Atomic model of an aluminium-palladium-manganese (Al-Pd-Mn) quasicrystal surface


MG apples: useful to teach Chirality


All chemistry is magic

• Chemistry is magic itself

• We plan a MOOC “Magic, Science and Confessable Secrets”

(MOOC: Massive Open Online Course)


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)


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!


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

http://slideshare.net/quelgir

magic and the periodic table of the elements

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periodic table of elements

elements row

chemical elements

elements g4g11

current periodic table

ancient periodic table