How To Start A Periodic Table With Real Elements Collection
2020 has so far proven a crushing disappointment to many people who grew up in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. The technology we expected to have mastered by now, such as flying cars and hoverboards, are still in their infancy. For the most part, humanity remains bound to our planet. However, some very cool things have also happened in the past 40-plus years.
For Luciteria, perhaps the most exciting has been finding innovative ways to transform a two-dimensional chemistry chart or textbook picture of the elements into a three-dimensional interactive periodic table with real elements!
For element collection connoisseurs who follow Dr. Theodore Gray’s definitive works on the periodic table, or casual kitchen collectors who do it as a hobby, there has never been a better time to flesh out their collections! As 2020 draws to a close, Luciteria Science is pleased to offer our proprietary desk display of the Lucite acrylic periodic table with actual elements, designed to fit our specially manufactured, museum-quality pure element cubes and Lucite acrylic cube element samples. These make the elements less expensive and more accessible, safe, and exciting than ever before!
Luciteria offers collectable sample types in a number of formats, including:
Density cubes of the elements in perfect cubes, available in 10mm³, 25.4mm³ (1-inch³) and 50mm³ sizes
Lucite acrylic art cubes, where we take beautiful element samples and have them embedded in pure Lucite acrylic. Great for all elements and allows even gases, unstable alkali metals, etc. to be safely displayed. Note: Unstable elements or elements which only exist in a laboratory setting are represented by beautiful photographs suitable to the element, such as einsteinium. Luciteria offers a periodic table display case for these too: https://luciteria.com/element-cubes/large-acrylic-elements-display-case
Element rounds, our most affordable way to collect elements. We have a special display case for these too.
Bullion, our recently released latest offering, featuring one troy ounce (31.1g) of 99.2+% elemental samples.
Be sure to check back regularly, as Luciteria Science is always adding new options and inventory for our customers’ convenience and element collecting pleasure!
Actual Elements for Enhanced Learning
Not everyone learns the same way. Some people learn best by reading a textbook. Some people need to see the actual thing under discussion to properly understand, file, and assimilate the information. Others need to engage all the senses, insofar as they can do so safely: sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound. For obvious reasons, we don’t suggest eating alkali metals or any other element samples! Likewise, gases such as xenon, krypton, argon, neon, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, and halogens don’t exactly lend themselves to open-air experimentation.
So how do you incorporate a periodic table with real elements into your chemistry, physics, or general science classroom safely for the teacher, students, and general public alike?
Fortunately, Luciteria Science has the answer readily available to customers of every type and need. Our chemical elements display allows you to add the perfect individual element samples for lessons in labs, kids’ teaching, school day, birthday gifts, as holiday gifts/crafts for the chemistry lovers in your life, or as a fun token of appreciation for science teachers or science lovers of any sort, for less money than you might expect. There’s never a bad reason to give a little bit of the building blocks of our universe from the tiniest particles to the heart of a star. Luciteria Science’s unique desk element periodic table display with real element samples makes learning about and exploring the natural world fun and exciting in a way no one else can!
Some advantages of the periodic table of elements collection Luciteria Science has on offer include:
First quality, real samples of all possible stable elements at the best possible prices
Reference density sample cubes suitable for work in labs in the USA, United Kingdom and around the world
Safe to handle
Ideal gift for a teacher or for home schooling
Fun educational toys
Endlessly reusable teacher supplies
Stunning table display with elements in an exciting interactive form
Labeled with scientifically accurate information in an attractive design
Increased student-teacher interaction and engagement
Purchase individual elements or complete sets
Ideal for school science labs
Perfect gift for private collectors
Great heirloom and heritage items to pass down to future generations of science enthusiasts
Great to examine under a magnifying glass
Fast, accurate shipping and delivery to any country the United States currently trades with (some exclusions and limitations apply; please see the end of this article for more information)
Exceptional customer feedback and high individual satisfaction
All our products are guaranteed to be the real deal, held to the highest quality and purity standards possible!
Our Lucite acrylic cubes are beautiful and stunning element samples encased in pure, non-yellow, Lucite acrylic resin. Designed to last forever and nearly indestructible, these signature Lucite acrylic cubes are sold individually or as a complete set as a special order, for those who prefer to appreciate these elements in their purified natural form. Click here to learn more.
We also offer individual samples in round format, as well as a complete collection of rounds with their own display cases! Click here to learn more.
Keep reading for more information about our element periodic table collections!
Frequently Asked Questions About How to Start a Periodic Table with Real Elements Collection
Question: Why is it important to invest in a periodic table?
Answer: Whether you’re providing samples for a learning or academic environment, an amateur elements enthusiast or element collecting is your life’s work, it’s hard to think of a cooler or more interesting way to display your collection of elements in the periodic table than with real samples of the actual elements! Before Luciteria Science came along, many collectors had to settle for collecting things made from the elements as their representations because it was close to impossible to lay hands on the actual refined elements unless you represented a large industry or a university with nearly unlimited resources to buy such curiosities. While a great many collectors still start their element collecting this way, many people found this helpful, having access to the “real” periodic table.
Our actual periodic table with real elements owes a heavy debt of gratitude to the work of Dr. Theodore Gray, an Ig Nobel Prize winner in chemistry who has written a series of comprehensive books on the elements, compounds, general chemistry and many more topics. Gray is renowned in science circles as the seminal pure element samples collector, and is certainly one of the most vocal and well-known proponents of element collection as a learning tool, hobby and aesthetic device. Rather than, or in addition to, posters for kids or a photographic card deck of the elements, a 3D interactive periodic table adds a distinct dimension to any collection which is hard to beat. Also, for the price, Luciteria Science offers the best purity and quality around, backed by our complete customer satisfaction guarantee!
Question: What elements are included in your periodic table collection?
Answer: We have several sets available for sale, depending on what you’re interested in. Some people just want “the basics,” elements made in the USA easily. It goes up from there depending on how elaborate you want to get, which countries and suppliers we need to work with to source scarcer elements and how much money you want to spend, although you can save quite a bit more over the regular price on our higher-end sets. At the highest end are 99.5+% pure cubes of precious metals like gold, silver and platinum. Our sets make it easy to order in bulk rather than individually load items to cart and manage payment separately. Whichever set you want, we want to make sure you get the right one that you feel is worth the money! Click here to see a complete description of our available element cube sets and rounds, for those who want another option for their displays. Click here to see a complete description of our available element round sets!
Question: How far do your periodic table displays go?
Answer: We offer representative, working, 99.5+%-pure samples or representations of every element from hydrogen, #1 up to and including lawrencium, #103. Some of these elements’ raw forms must be excluded for obvious reasons, such as instability, volatility or the fact they exist only in a laboratory setting under very unusual and rigidly controlled circumstances. Currently, we have a selection of 63 pure elemental cubes. Some of these cubes are encased in argon in a glass ampoule so they won’t crumble or turn to dust. All these elements are also available in our Lucite acrylic element cubes. As for the remaining 40, which cannot be effectively or safely refined or handled in their raw form, we use crystal clear, pure bubbles such as with chlorine and fluorine gas or plutonium. Elements which are rare, dangerous or only exist in a laboratory are represented by beautiful photographs embedded within Luciteria Science’s signature Lucite acrylic cubes, which are engraved with the element’s name, atomic symbol and number. Our 100% made in the USA acrylic periodic table displays with real elements in cube, round or vial form are designed to allow the samples to fit snugly and securely, allowing you to show off your collection on a wall (with additional mounting hardware), your desk or anywhere you have a little extra space!
Question: Is it true this collection contains real uranium?
Answer: Yes! Like any other element cube you can buy from Luciteria Science, we offer only the purest possible uranium, and lots of people have viewed this item. Uranium gets a bad rap because it has been famously used in nuclear weapons as well as a prop or MacGuffin in movies, TV, comic books and thriller novels, so it will certainly get you some attention around the office if you show up with a cube of it! Uranium is perfectly legal to own in a small quantity in the United States, so you don’t need to edit your browsing history or worry about a visit from the Department of Energy. (Sorry, we can’t ship uranium outside the USA.)
While uranium is radioactive, it is safe to have on your desk, for example. Uranium emits a type of radiation known as gamma rays, which are very weak, contrary to what the origin story of the Incredible Hulk would have you believe. At as little as one inch away from the sample, the radiation a uranium sample emits is essentially the same as background radiation and thus harmless. You could carry a cube of uranium around in your pocket for a year and get about the same exposure as you would from a single CT scan. Of course, excessive handling or eating it would be a bit of a bad idea!
Uranium has a half-life of roughly 4.5 billion years, which means the exposure you can expect to get is far less than most people believe. This element is used and handled all the time in industry, including in all aircraft, where it is employed as a counterbalance in the nose! Uranium’s density makes it ideal for “tank-killer” rounds used by the military, launched by tanks, rockets or from aerial platforms such as the infamous A-10 Warthog, which is essentially a Gatling gun with a plane built around it. Due to its rarity, the difficulty of refining and machining it, and sale and shipping regulations, uranium is one of our most expensive element cubes, although it is available in Lucite acrylic element cube and round form which are less expensive. Luciteria Science offers delivery of uranium only to customers within the United States.
Question: At what point would your periodic table be harmful to you?
Answer: With proper care and reasonable handling, and as long as you don’t eat, lick or otherwise ingest the samples, having a complete periodic table with real sample elements spanning all 103 available elements and cube representations is perfectly safe. The more potentially hazardous elements are encased safely in our nearly indestructible, eco-friendly signature Lucite acrylic cubes with big, beautiful engraving . The acrylic cube collection offers zero risk or issues. All elements are safely encased. Keep in mind some of these elements are very reactive to air or water, such as sodium, potassium, or cesium. These elements could be dangerous, but encased in acrylic are harmless, almost impossible to obtain outside of a lab and will last a lifetime. Other examples include mercury, which is toxic to handle; bromine, which is very reactive and toxic; and thallium, which is extremely toxic. When encased in acrylic, these are all safe, harmless desktop displays. Because our Lucite acrylic cubes don’t crack, yellow or get cloudy with age as long as you polish them with a soft cloth after handling to get the oils from your hands off them, they also prevent any hazards associated with their presents unless someone actively sets out to destroy the cube using specialized tools. Also, for elements such as radium, we source only very small samples of it from antique watch hands, encased safely in Lucite acrylic cubes, to eliminate radiation risk. Due to its rarity and radioactivity, technetium is another element that is only available in Lucite cube format.
To see our complete selection of rounds, elemental metal cubes, Lucite cubes, bullion and more, click their names or click here for our homepage!
Luciteria Science ships to most countries around the world. Again, please note uranium can only be shipped within the US. We accept Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, PayPal and Apple Pay. We also sell on Amazon for those with Amazon Prime accounts, Amazon gift cards or wishing to pay in currencies other than USD, although samples and available sets on the Amazon store may vary from those available on our website. Upon your verified purchase, we will ship your order as quickly as possible, usually within 1-2 business days. Skip the lines this holiday season and click here to start your periodic table with real elements collection today!
