July 1, 2014 (Vol. 34, No. 13)
URL:
http://bit.ly/UIXbFr
Rating:
Strong Points: Customizable display, lots of information
Weak Points: The meaning of some pictorial symbols not intuitive
Platform:
iPad/iPhone
Cost:
Free
Summary:
Assuming they can overlook the intentional misspelling of “elements,” students and scientists alike will enjoy the Mild EleMints periodic table app. This free app provides a stylistic and informative periodic table complete with customizable display options. For example, users can choose to display the elements (color-coded) by one of fifteen different parameters, including traditional classification (e.g. alkali metal versus noble gas), physical state, density, and covalent radius. For each of the temperature-dependent values (such as physical state), the table includes a sliding temperature bar that allows users to observe (via color changes in the table) how the elements change across temperatures. Beyond these gross manipulations of the entire table, the periodic table is also interactive in the sense that selecting an element displays a wealth of information for that element in a side tab. This information includes specific values related to the element’s classification, atomic properties, thermodynamic properties, ionic radii, ionization energies, binding energies and isotopes.
