Collections of Elements

Here are several different ways of sorting and grouping the elements. In any column you can click on an individual element, or click on "All At Once" to see all the samples from that column together on one page.

There is a separate page that groups elements by source and contributor, and I have a page showing my collection of Periodic Table Posters.

Elements sorted in general ways
Elements sorted by properties of my samples
Chemical groups

Poster Samples
Favorite Samples
Samples In the RGB Set
Samples In the Everest Set
Samples In the Jensan Set
Samples with Stories
Samples with Rotatable Images
Samples with High Resolution Spin Movies
Samples with Sounds
Samples with Videos
Minerals, Alloys, and Compounds
Elements with External Samples
Solid at Room Temperature
Liquid at Room Temperature
Gas at Room Temperature
Stable Elements
Stable Elements with Radioactive Isotopes
Radioactive Elements
Fun/Dangerous Experiments
Elements at Walmart
Elements in the Human Body
Elements that spell OLiVEr SAcKS
Elements Popular in Collections
Elements I Need Samples Of
Elements I Have Extra Of

Back to Periodic Table home

Elements Sorted in General Ways

By Atomic Number By Name (US Spellings) By Tom Lehrer
All At OnceAll At OnceAll At Once
1 Hydrogen Berkelium (97) There's Antimony
2 Helium Beryllium (4) Arsenic
3 Lithium Bismuth (83) Aluminum
4 Beryllium Bohrium (107) Selenium
5 Boron Boron (5) And Hydrogen
6 Carbon Bromine (35) and Oxygen
7 Nitrogen Cadmium (48) and Nitrogen
8 Oxygen Calcium (20) and Rhenium
9 Fluorine Californium (98) And Nickel
10 Neon Carbon (6) Neodymium
11 Sodium Cerium (58) Neptunium
12 Magnesium Cesium (55) Germanium
13 Aluminum Chlorine (17) And Iron
14 Silicon Chromium (24) Americium
15 Phosphorus Cobalt (27) Ruthenium
16 Sulfur Copper (29) Uranium
17 Chlorine Curium (96) Europium
18 Argon Darmstadtium (110) Zirconium
19 Potassium Dubnium (105) Lutetium
20 Calcium Dysprosium (66) Vanadium
21 Scandium Einsteinium (99) And Lanthanum
22 Titanium Erbium (68) and Osmium
23 Vanadium Europium (63) and Astatine
24 Chromium Fermium (100) and Radium
25 Manganese Fluorine (9) And Gold
26 Iron Francium (87) and Protactinium
27 Cobalt Gadolinium (64) and Indium
28 Nickel Gallium (31) and Gallium
29 Copper Germanium (32) And Iodine
30 Zinc Gold (79) and Thorium
31 Gallium Hafnium (72) and Thulium
32 Germanium Hassium (108) and Thallium
33 Arsenic Helium (2) There's Yttrium
34 Selenium Holmium (67) Ytterbium
35 Bromine Hydrogen (1) Actinium
36 Krypton Indium (49) Rubidium
37 Rubidium Iodine (53) And Boron
38 Strontium Iridium (77) Gadolinium
39 Yttrium Iron (26) Niobium
40 Zirconium Krypton (36) Iridium
41 Niobium Lanthanum (57) And Strontium
42 Molybdenum Lawrencium (103) and Silicon
43 Technetium Lead (82) and Silver
44 Ruthenium Lithium (3) and Samarium
45 Rhodium Lutetium (71) and Bismuth
46 Palladium Magnesium (12) Bromine
47 Silver Manganese (25) Lithium
48 Cadmium Meitnerium (109) Beryllium
49 Indium Mendelevium (101) and Barium
50 Tin Mercury (80) There's Holmium
51 Antimony Molybdenum (42) and Helium
52 Tellurium Neodymium (60) and Hafnium
53 Iodine Neon (10) and Erbium
54 Xenon Neptunium (93) And Phosphorus
55 Cesium Nickel (28) and Francium
56 Barium Niobium (41) and Fluorine
57 Lanthanum Nitrogen (7) and Terbium
58 Cerium Nobelium (102) And Manganese
59 Praseodymium Osmium (76) and Mercury
60 Neodymium Oxygen (8) Molybdenum
61 Promethium Palladium (46) Magnesium
62 Samarium Phosphorus (15) Dysprosium
63 Europium Platinum (78) and Scandium
64 Gadolinium Plutonium (94) and Cerium
65 Terbium Polonium (84) and Cesium
66 Dysprosium Potassium (19) And Lead
67 Holmium Praseodymium (59) Praseodymium
68 Erbium Promethium (61) and Platinum
69 Thulium Protactinium (91) Plutonium
70 Ytterbium Radium (88) Palladium
71 Lutetium Radon (86) Promethium
72 Hafnium Rhenium (75) Potassium
73 Tantalum Rhodium (45) Polonium
74 Tungsten Roentgenium (111) And Tantalum
75 Rhenium Rubidium (37) Technetium
76 Osmium Ruthenium (44) Titanium
77 Iridium Rutherfordium (104) Tellurium
78 Platinum Samarium (62) And Cadmium
79 Gold Scandium (21) and Calcium
80 Mercury Seaborgium (106) and Chromium
81 Thallium Selenium (34) and Curium
82 Lead Silicon (14) There's Sulfur
83 Bismuth Silver (47) Californium
84 Polonium Sodium (11) and Fermium
85 Astatine Strontium (38) Berkelium
86 Radon Sulfur (16) And also Mendelevium
87 Francium Tantalum (73) Einsteinium
88 Radium Technetium (43) Nobelium
89 Actinium Tellurium (52) And Argon
90 Thorium Terbium (65) Krypton
91 Protactinium Thallium (81) Neon
92 Uranium Thorium (90) Radon
93 Neptunium Thulium (69) Xenon
94 Plutonium Tin (50) Zinc
95 Americium Titanium (22) and Rhodium
96 Curium Tungsten (74) And Chlorine
97 Berkelium Ununbium (112) Cobalt
98 Californium Ununhexium (116) Carbon
99 Einsteinium Ununoctium (118) Copper
100 Fermium Ununpentium (115) Tungsten
101 Mendelevium Ununquadium (114) Tin
102 Nobelium Ununseptium (117) and Sodium
103 Lawrencium Ununtrium (113) These are the only
104 Rutherfordium Uranium (92) ones of which the news,
105 Dubnium Vanadium (23) has come to Harvard
106 Seaborgium Xenon (54) And there may be
107 Bohrium Ytterbium (70) many others but they
108 Hassium Yttrium (39) haven't been discarvard
109 Meitnerium Zinc (30)
110 Darmstadtium Zirconium (40)
111 Roentgenium Actinium (89)
112 Ununbium Aluminum (13)
113 Ununtrium Americium (95)
114 Ununquadium Antimony (51)
115 Ununpentium Argon (18)
116 Ununhexium Arsenic (33)
117 Ununseptium Astatine (85)
118 Ununoctium Barium (56)

Elements Sorted By Properties of My Samples

By Purity of Purest Sample By Priciest Sample Samples by Date Samples by Date Edited By Number of Samples By Words in Description
All At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At Once
Carbon (100%) Indium ($765) DavyLamp DavyLamp Titanium (78) Titanium (10215)
Nitrogen (100%) Radium ($425) MicaSheet MicaSheet Tungsten (71) Iron (8412)
Germanium (99.999999%) HeNeLaser ($300) SC.AzuriteAndMalachite SC.AzuriteAndMalachite Iron (68) Lead (7919)
Silicon (99.99999%) HeNeLaser ($300) SC.Emmonsite SC.Emmonsite Copper (66) Tungsten (7906)
Arsenic (99.99999%) Polonium ($203) SC.Aragonite2 SC.Aragonite2 Aluminum (61) Aluminum (7868)
Indium (99.99999%) Plutonium ($162) CuSO4.a CuSO4.a Lead (60) Copper (7865)
Aluminum (99.9999%) Radon ($120) CuSO4.b CuSO4.b Silicon (49) Uranium (6692)
Gallium (99.9999%) Rhodium ($107) CuSO4.c CuSO4.c Silver (48) Zinc (6425)
Phosphorus (99.999%) CompactFlashHardDrive ($100) Ekanite Ekanite Zinc (43) Silver (6281)
Titanium (99.999%) Scandium ($94) QuartzSlice QuartzSlice Carbon (40) Sodium (5820)
Chromium (99.999%) Astatine ($90) QuartzWindow QuartzWindow Nickel (39) Carbon (5736)
Copper (99.999%) Francium ($90) Magnesium SyntheticQuartz Zirconium (36) Mercury (5355)
Selenium (99.999%) Actinium ($90) Titanium Magnesium Gold (36) Radium (5319)
Silver (99.999%) Protactinium ($90) Nickel Titanium Mercury (33) Gold (5101)
Cadmium (99.999%) Argon ($67) Copper Nickel Niobium (32) Magnesium (4619)
Tellurium (99.999%) Promethium ($60) Copper Copper Uranium (32) Silicon (4567)
Cesium (99.999%) Samarium ($60) Zinc Copper Magnesium (31) Nickel (4316)
Tungsten (99.999%) Americium ($41) SC.NativeSilver1 Zinc Tin (31) Hydrogen (4165)
Bismuth (99.999%) Curium ($40) Tellurium SC.NativeSilver1 Tantalum (29) Zirconium (4102)
Niobium (99.995%) Europium ($39) Iodine Tellurium Bismuth (28) Phosphorus (3947)
Molybdenum (99.995%) Rubidium ($38) OsmiridiumPen Iodine Chromium (27) Niobium (3911)
Sulfur (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) OsmiridiumPen2 Tungsten Cobalt (27) Bismuth (3910)
Iron (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Mercury OsmiridiumPen Radium (25) Tantalum (3629)
Cobalt (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Mercury OsmiridiumPen2 Beryllium (24) Tin (3590)
Nickel (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Baddeleyite2 Mercury Platinum (23) Sulfur (3538)
Zinc (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) QuicklimeDesiccant Mercury Sulfur (21) Lithium (3360)
Strontium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) SyntheticQuartz Baddeleyite2 Selenium (21) Iridium (2954)
Yttrium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Tungsten QuicklimeDesiccant Cadmium (21) Chromium (2828)
Zirconium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Hydrogen Silicon Sodium (20) Beryllium (2770)
Ruthenium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Carbon Selenium Molybdenum (20) Thorium (2739)
Tin (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) SiliconCarbide3 Hydrogen Germanium (19) Fluorine (2669)
Iodine (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Jensan.Zincite Chlorine Neodymium (19) Cadmium (2487)
Praseodymium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) SC.Fergusonite Silver Antimony (18) Plutonium (2457)
Neodymium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Fluorine Antimony Hydrogen (17) Hafnium (2435)
Samarium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Silicon Cesium Fluorine (17) Iodine (2393)
Terbium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Calcium Holmium Phosphorus (17) Oxygen (2367)
Tantalum (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Titanium Carbon Lithium (16) Yttrium (2350)
Platinum (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Jensan.TerrestrialIron SiliconCarbide3 Manganese (16) Palladium (2336)
Gold (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Nickel Jensan.Zincite Iodine (16) Nitrogen (2279)
Mercury (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Copper SC.Fergusonite Yttrium (15) Platinum (2265)
Thallium (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Tin Fluorine Palladium (15) Scandium (2255)
Lead (99.99%) CardDeck ($35) Holmium Silicon Indium (15) Argon (2151)
Scandium (99.98%) CardDeck ($35) Tungsten Calcium Xenon (15) Cesium (2114)
Rhenium (99.98%) CardDeck ($35) Iron Titanium Hafnium (15) Xenon (2083)
Helium (99.95%) CardDeck ($35) PbTe Jensan.TerrestrialIron Argon (13) Antimony (1938)
Neon (99.95%) CardDeck ($35) Tungsten Nickel Technetium (13) Vanadium (1853)
Sodium (99.95%) CardDeck ($35) Carbon Copper Europium (13) Gallium (1852)
Argon (99.95%) CardDeck ($35) Phosphorus Tin Polonium (13) Cobalt (1842)
Manganese (99.95%) Electrons ($28) Phosphorus Tungsten Thorium (13) Molybdenum (1838)
Krypton (99.95%) Neutrons ($0) Titanium Tungsten Scandium (12) Bromine (1814)
Xenon (99.95%) Kunzite ($nonymous) Titanium Titanium Vanadium (12) Germanium (1797)
Dysprosium (99.95%) Beryllium ($nonymous) Palladobismutharsenide Iron Rhodium (12) Neon (1720)
Thulium (99.95%) Kuliokite ($nonymous) Zirconium Iron Nitrogen (11) Neodymium (1682)
Lutetium (99.95%) Jensan.Pyrochlore ($nonymous) Ruthenium PbTe Oxygen (11) Selenium (1627)
Osmium (99.95%) Jensan.Tantalite ($nonymous) Silver Platinum Arsenic (11) Helium (1626)
Iridium (99.95%) Turquoise ($nonymous) Silver Carbon Tellurium (11) Indium (1606)
Europium (99.94%) Titanite ($nonymous) Carbon Beryllium Cesium (11) Osmium (1564)
Hydrogen (99.9%) Rhenite ($nonymous) Coltan Beryllium Terbium (11) Polonium (1542)
Beryllium (99.9%) Titanite ($nonymous) Aluminum Beryllium Rhenium (11) Potassium (1540)
Boron (99.9%) Vanadium ($nonymous) Chlorine Beryllium Boron (10) Chlorine (1519)
Oxygen (99.9%) Jensan.Crocoite ($nonymous) Argon Beryllium Neon (10) Europium (1515)
Magnesium (99.9%) Zincite ($nonymous) Cobalt Carbon Chlorine (10) Arsenic (1435)
Chlorine (99.9%) Gallium ($nonymous) Bromine Coltan Gallium (10) Technetium (1399)
Potassium (99.9%) Germanium ($nonymous) Silver Aluminum Strontium (10) Krypton (1373)
Calcium (99.9%) Realgar ($nonymous) Cerium Phosphorus Helium (9) Strontium (1351)
Vanadium (99.9%) Jensan.Haynesite ($nonymous) Carbon Phosphorus Bromine (9) Rhenium (1330)
Bromine (99.9%) Jensan.Celestine ($nonymous) Carbon Argon Cerium (9) Terbium (1296)
Rubidium (99.9%) Y1Ba2Cu3O7 ($nonymous) Nitrogen Titanium Erbium (9) Manganese (1251)
Rhodium (99.9%) ZirconSand ($nonymous) Sodium Titanium Potassium (8) Erbium (1246)
Antimony (99.9%) Jensan.Tantalite ($nonymous) Iron Cobalt Calcium (8) Calcium (1243)
Barium (99.9%) Jensan.Wulfenite ($nonymous) Copper Germanium Krypton (8) Boron (1240)
Gadolinium (99.9%) Palladobismutharsenide ($nonymous) Copper Palladobismutharsenide Rubidium (8) Tellurium (1238)
Holmium (99.9%) Jensan.Greenockite2 ($nonymous) Copper Bromine Ruthenium (8) Rubidium (1209)
Erbium (99.9%) Jensan.Cassiterite ($nonymous) Silver Zirconium Praseodymium (8) Praseodymium (1150)
Ytterbium (99.9%) Jensan.Weissbergite ($nonymous) Tin Ruthenium Samarium (8) Thulium (1124)
Thorium (99.9%) PbTe ($nonymous) Cesium Silver Osmium (8) Radon (1101)
Uranium (99.9%) Jensan.Bastnasite ($nonymous) Tungsten Silver Iridium (8) Electrons (1090)
Promethium (99.5%) Jensan.Hafnon ($nonymous) Gold Cerium Barium (7) Samarium (1078)
Lithium (99.4%) Jensan.Tantalite ($nonymous) Dragonfly Platinum Promethium (7) Gadolinium (1008)
Lanthanum (99.4%) PlatiniferousPyroxenite ($nonymous) Mercury Platinum Thulium (7) Seaborgium (994)
Cerium (99.4%) PlatiniferousPyroxenite ($nonymous) Mercury Columbite Radon (7) Dysprosium (993)
Fluorine (99%) Jensan.Cinnabar ($nonymous) Americium Carbon Lanthanum (6) Holmium (980)
Polonium (99%) Jensan.Weissbergite ($nonymous) Americium Carbon Gadolinium (6) Ytterbium (950)
Americium (90%) Palladobismutharsenide ($nonymous) Pitchblende Nitrogen Dysprosium (6) Lanthanum (935)
Radon (2%) Pitchblende ($nonymous) Sulfur Sodium Thallium (6) Protactinium (886)
Radium (1%) ReRuOsIr ($Null) Sulfur Copper Americium (6) Cerium (879)
Neptunium (1%) ReRuOsIr ($Null) Terbium Yttrium Holmium (5) Promethium (864)
Plutonium (1%) ReRuOsIr ($Null) Neon Molybdenum Ytterbium (5) Barium (854)
Francium (0.2%) Cesium ($oan) Strontium Tin Protactinium (5) Ruthenium (836)
Actinium (0.2%) NiCl2 ($onated) Technetium Tungsten Plutonium (5) Rhodium (833)
Protactinium (0.2%) NiCl2 ($onated) Tellurium Uranium Electrons (5) Lutetium (831)
Technetium (0.1%) RuCl3 ($onated) Promethium Copper Lutetium (4) Astatine (802)
Astatine (0.1%) HoCl3 ($one) Europium Copper Astatine (4) Francium (801)
Curium (0%) Potassium ($one) Radon Copper Francium (4) Actinium (799)
Berkelium (0%) MnI2 ($one) Radon Silver Actinium (4) Americium (790)
Californium (0%) CoCl2 ($one) Uranium Cesium Seaborgium (4) Thallium (718)
Einsteinium (0%) YbBr3 ($one) Plutonium Europium Neptunium (3) Neptunium (687)
Fermium (0%) TbI3 ($one) Kuliokite Gold Curium (3) Fermium (538)
Mendelevium (0%) Barium ($one) Kunzite Radon Einsteinium (3) Einsteinium (537)
Nobelium (0%) CeI3 ($one) Cassiterite Plutonium Fermium (3) Mendelevium (526)
Lawrencium (0%) PrI3 ($one) Rhodonite Dragonfly Mendelevium (3) Rutherfordium (373)
Rutherfordium (0%) NdI3 ($one) Pentlandite Mercury Berkelium (2) Dubnium (348)
Dubnium (0%) TbI3 ($one) Rhenite Mercury Californium (2) Curium (340)
Seaborgium (0%) HoCl3 ($one) Propeller Mercury Nobelium (2) Berkelium (326)
Bohrium (0%) ErI3 ($one) Copper Americium Lawrencium (2) Hassium (326)
Hassium (0%) TmBr3 ($one) Copper Americium Rutherfordium (2) Bohrium (322)
Meitnerium (0%) YbBr3 ($one) Krypton Pitchblende Dubnium (2) Californium (307)
Darmstadtium (0%) LuBr3 ($one) Molybdenum Sulfur Bohrium (2) Lawrencium (300)
Roentgenium (0%) Technetium ($onfidential) Praseodymium Sulfur Hassium (2) Nobelium (299)
Ununbium (0%) Silver ($onfidential) OsmiridiumAd Terbium Meitnerium (1) Neutrons (271)
Ununtrium (0%) Tungsten ($onfidential) Platinum Neon Darmstadtium (1) Ununtrium (197)
Ununquadium (0%) Lead ($onfidential) Mercury Propeller Roentgenium (1) Ununpentium (197)
Ununpentium (0%) Thorium ($onfidential) Radon Strontium Ununbium (1) Ununseptium (197)
Ununhexium (0%) CalciumHydrideCanister ($orgot) Radium Technetium Ununtrium (1) Ununbium (185)
Ununseptium (0%) PineTree ($riceless) Radium Tellurium Ununquadium (1) Ununhexium (154)
Ununoctium (0%) PineTree ($riceless) Sodium Promethium Ununpentium (1) Darmstadtium (153)
Electrons (0%) PineTree ($riceless) Sodium Promethium Ununhexium (1) Ununoctium (152)
Neutrons (0%) Phosphorus ($riceless) Titanium Radon Ununseptium (1) Ununquadium (137)

The Chemical Groups

Alkali Metals Alkali Earth Metals Rare Earth Metals Transition Metals Other Metals Metalloids Non-Metals Halogens Noble Gases Subatomic Particles Extra Tiles
All At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At OnceAll At Once
Hydrogen Beryllium Lanthanum Scandium Aluminum Boron Carbon Fluorine Helium Electrons
Lithium Magnesium Cerium Titanium Gallium Silicon Nitrogen Chlorine Neon Protons
Sodium Calcium Praseodymium Vanadium Indium Germanium Oxygen Bromine Argon Neutrons
Potassium Strontium Neodymium Chromium Tin Arsenic Phosphorus Iodine Krypton
Rubidium Barium Promethium Manganese Thallium Antimony Sulfur Astatine Xenon
Cesium Radium Samarium Iron Lead Tellurium Selenium Ununseptium Radon
Francium Europium Cobalt Bismuth Polonium Ununoctium
Gadolinium Nickel Ununtrium
Terbium Copper Ununquadium
Dysprosium Zinc Ununpentium
Holmium Yttrium Ununhexium
Erbium Zirconium
Thulium Niobium
Ytterbium Molybdenum
Lutetium Technetium
Actinium Ruthenium
Thorium Rhodium
Protactinium Palladium
Uranium Silver
Neptunium Cadmium
Plutonium Hafnium
Americium Tantalum
Curium Tungsten
Berkelium Rhenium
Californium Osmium
Einsteinium Iridium
Fermium Platinum
Mendelevium Gold
Nobelium Mercury
Lawrencium Rutherfordium
Dubnium
Seaborgium
Bohrium
Hassium
Meitnerium
Darmstadtium
Roentgenium
Ununbium

Poster Samples (118)

These are the samples used in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster to represent each element. They are shown in the form of a tile exactly as they appear in the poster. You can order a beautifully printed copy of this poster here.
Periodic Table Poster

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Favorite Samples (15)

These are the elements that make up my favorite samples. Some of them I like because they are big and chunky, some because they are unusual, some have particularly good entries in the website, etc. They are in order with favorite first.

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Samples In the RGB Set (92)

This collection shows all the samples available in the very nice element collection available for sale from The Red Green and Blue company in England. This set was kindly donated by Max Whitby, the director of the company. To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description, or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details.

I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one supplied by the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures, or their pictures. Or you can see both sets in numerical order with bigger pictures in this collection: The pictures on the left are mine, generally with the samples taken out of the bottles, while the pictures on the right are from the company and show the samples in the bottles exactly as they come in the set. (There is some variation in the form of some of the samples, because the sets are not all identical. And in a few cases I haven't taken my own picture yet, so the two are identical.)

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Samples In the Everest Set (108)

This collection shows all the samples available in the element collection available for sale on eBay. This set was kindly provided at a greatly reduced price by Rob Accurso, who bought the remaining stock when the distributor dumped it.

Note that the number of elements listed for this collection, 108, is the number of nicely labeled ampules included in the box. Several of these represent elements that are radioactive and are not included in the set: The total number of elements actually present physically in the set is 82.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout, or in numerical order with bigger pictures in this collection.

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Samples In the Jensan Set (39)

This collection shows some of the samples available in the Grand Tour of the Periodic Table mineral collection sold by Jensan Scientifics.

NOTE! This is currently only an incomplete set of photographs: There are a total of 60 samples in the set. I'll have them all photographed within a month or two.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout, or in numerical order with bigger pictures in this collection.

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Samples with Stories (13)

These are elements that have longer stories associated with one or more samples. Click on the story book icons to read the stories, most of which have additional pictures and videos in them.

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Samples with Rotatable Images (1485)

These are samples that have QuickTimeVR 3D and JavaScript stereoscopic rotatable images associated with one or more samples. You can download the latest version of QuickTime for Macintosh or Windows from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download. To make these files I first used a "VR Micro Studio", which consisted of an up-side-down panorama head, a three-axis adjustable tripod mount, and a 1000W halogen light. The camera was covered with tinfoil to keep it from burning up under the hot light. After making about 130 3D images (almost 10,000 individual photographs) I got a fiber optic illumination system and my studio looked like this. It was much more flexible, and doesn't get hot at all. Light really is the key to photographing small things: You need a lot of it close in. Then after another 50 or so I finally got an automatic turntable. Commercial stepper-motor systems are available, but they are very expensive and I've found they all vibrate, which disturbs delicate arrangements. I instead use a cheap surplus turntable with a 5 revolution per hour timing motor, combined with a time lapse control set to take a picture every 10 seconds. That works out to 72 images in one 12-minute revolution. If you do the math, the motion blur is less than one pixel even at a 1/15 second exposure, so a stepper motor that starts and stops is really not necessary. That was good, but in preparing for a Discovery Channel film project, I needed to upgrade to 360 steps instead of 72, and I wanted to be able to handle all sizes from nearly microscopic to a couple hundred pounds. The solution was a pair of custom-machined (by me, of course) turntables, cast iron mounts and a slate base for everything (because of vibrations, which are a big problem for samples less than about 5mm across). In late 2004 the studio looks like this.

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Samples with High Resolution Spin Movies (1324)

These are samples that have high-resolution (one degree step) spin movies, in which the sample is shown rotating on a turntable, completing one revolution every 12 seconds (360 frames at 30 frames per second). These movies were made with one of several custom-built high-precision turntables: Because some of them are very small, tight tollerances are required to avoid wobble and vibration. Here is a picture of the rotation studio as it appeared in late 2004. The images were taken one every 5 seconds using a Canon 20D digital SLR.
To make downloading practical the movies are shown at 400x600 resolution, but the original 8 megapixel images (about 750MB per sample) are available on special request.
To get to the movie, click the turntable icon on the right of each sample line: This will take you to a 72-step QuickTime VR version. Underneath that will be a link taking you to the 360-step movie loop.

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Samples with Sounds (47)

These are elements that have sounds associated with one or more samples. For example, tin has the tin cry, etc.

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Samples with Videos (10)

These are elements that have videos associated with one or more samples. There are also quite a few additional videos in the stories associated with the elements that have stories. All the videos on this site are in QuickTime format, and most of them require QuickTime V5 or better. You can download the latest version of QuickTime for Macintosh or Windows from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download.

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Minerals, Alloys, and Compounds (471)

This collection contains samples that are not pure elements, but rather mixtures of several. Most are naturally occurring minerals in more or less the form they come out of the ground. (With a few exceptions, minerals are complex chemical compounds or mixtures of compounds). Other samples here are pure chemical compounds or alloys (mixtures of metals). Each sample is listed under all of the elements it contains.

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Elements with External Samples (37)

These are elements that have "External" samples associated with them. External samples are ones not actually located in the table and which I don't own. Generally speaking that means museum specimens, interesting rocks, or other objects I found somewhere that had to stay where they were for whatever reason.

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Solid at Room Temperature (84)

These elements are solids at room temperature and pressure.

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Liquid at Room Temperature (2)

These elements are liquids at room temperature and pressure.

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Gas at Room Temperature (13)

These elements are gasses at room temperature and pressure.

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Stable Elements (79)

These elements are entirely stable (non-radioactive).

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Stable Elements with Radioactive Isotopes (4)

These elements are generally considered stable (and have at least one stable isotope), but also have at least one naturally occurring (on earth) radioactive isotope. Generally speaking these radioactive isotopes are either very long-lived or occur as only a very small percentage of the element.

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Radioactive Elements (38)

These elements are radioactive. They either have no stable naturally occurring isotope, or else are entirely artificial (all artificial elements have no stable isotopes).

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Fun/Dangerous Experiments (17)

These are elements I've done experiments with at one time or another: Click the sample pictures to read about them. Some of these experiments are quite dangerous, and will result in burns, chronic or acute poisoning, blindness or death. Unless, of course, you are careful and understand what you are doing, what the dangers are, and how to protect yourself. Danger is part of life: Respect it and it will let you live.

I would like to add a special note for any teenagers who are reading this section. One of the great things about teenagers is that you are, for the most part, biologically incapable of confronting your own mortality. And I mean that in the best possible way. I know you're perfectly well aware, in an intellectual sort of way, that you're human and that no one lives forever. But you don't really believe that, do you? You don't, and that's why you can go out and take chances, break barriers, change the world, in ways that more sensible people would be way too sensible for. That is your power: Use it. And some day in your late 20s or early 30s, you will stop in your tracks and for the first time in your life really understand death: Yours. It's scary, but it's how you grow.

That is the day you'll start wearing safety glasses when you do these experiments. In the mean time, all I can say is, please wear glasses anyway, even though you know in your heart that nothing could ever happen to you. Ideally they should be wrap-around safety glasses, but let's be realistic here: Any glasses are better than none. If you don't wear corrective lenses, find some good open-frame safety glasses at the hardware store. They are comfortable, don't steam up, and are much easier to clean than the goggle-type. If you'll actually wear those, that's way better than sealed goggle types you aren't wearing.

Why are glasses so important? Because having your cheeks ripped off by shrapnel, your hair burned to the roots, and your nose split open and folded up over your forehead is nothing, nothing compared to being blind for the rest of your life. Not even close.

On that note, here are some elements you can do great experiments with.

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Elements at Walmart (31)

It's amazing how many elements you can buy in reasonably pure form at Walmart: My list currently contains 31 elements. (When I say "Walmart" I really mean any combination of grocery store, hardware store, and pharmacy. Walmart just happens to be the most common and most diverse store most people in the US would be familiar with.) To get on this list, an element has to be available in such a store in reasonably pure form, not in an alloy or compound. Platings (e.g. chrome plating) do count, and in some cases it may be necessary to dig the element out from inside a consumer product. Note that if you look at any individual element, I may not have actually gotten the sample from Walmart, and the sample might not even be of the kind of thing you can actually get there. I hope to have such samples filled in eventually.

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Elements in the Human Body (25)

Here are all the elements required if you want to build a human body, in order of the quantity required. An actual body contains small amounts of most other elements it's picked up from the environment, but these are the only ones you actually need.

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Elements that spell OLiVEr SAcKS (8)

For the front of my home page I had the idea that I might spell out my name using element tiles from the Periodic Table Table. Unfortunately, it can't be done: My name is not a chemical compound. But that got me thinking about other people whose names might be possible, and lo and behold, Dr. Sacks himself can be spelled with elements!

Naturally I then wrote a small webMathematica program to break any name into elements, if it can be done. Some people are compounds, some people aren't, that's all there is to it, and to find out if you are, click here.

Here's what Dr. Sacks looks like spelled out in elements:

8 Oxygen3 Lithium23 Vanadium68 Erbium0 16 Sulfur89 Actinium19 Potassium16 Sulfur

And here are the elements he's made of.

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Elements Popular in Collections (94)

Here is a collection of the elements in order of how many other collections (on this website) they appear in. A measure of versatility? Maybe. The list is cut off at those that occur in only two other collections, not counting commercial element sets.

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Elements I Need Samples Of (3)

These are all the elements I don't have any sample of, or where my sample is less than 80% pure (which often means it's a compound). I've excluded elements past 98 and a few earlier ones, because they are not realistically storable (e.g. have a halflife of a few minutes and exist only occasionally in a few research labs in the world, that kind of thing). This is a list I hope to have empty some day. A shopping list you might say.

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Elements I Have Extra Of (17)

These are elements I have more than I need of, and would potentially be willing to trade for other interesting elements. PLEASE don't ask me for any of these unless you've got something to trade that I don't have and that is difficult to get. I'm not in the business of distributing elements, and maintain this list only because sometimes people with unusual elements have the same attitude I do: They'll only give them up if you've got something equally interesting to trade. If you have an element you think I might like, and you'd like something on this list, contact me at theodore@wolfram.com and maybe we can make a deal. I have not included in this list things that are easily available from stores or internet suppliers: If there's anything at all on my website you like, click the Source link and you may find it's easier to get than you think. Or, you may find there is absolutely no way on earth to ever get another one: It just depends.

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