Although it may not seem like it, everything in our universe is actually made of very few things when it comes to the elements of the periodic table. Most people tend to view the periodic table of elements based on atomic attributes but we should actually be viewing it based on abundance. Start shifting your view of the periodic table and start getting a better understanding of the world around you.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about a science classroom?

For me, it is the periodic table adorning the wall, a collection of symbols containing one or two letters enclosed in small boxes that are arranged perfectly in rows and columns.

The periodic table tells us a lot of useful information that can help us to better understand the world that we live in and ourselves, and although you may feel overwhelmed by the numerous little boxes that make up the periodic table, it turns out that you only need to know just a fraction of it to understand something quite fundamental, not only in the context of earth, but of the universe.

Each little box on the periodic table is dedicated to a particular element. An element is a substance that is made up of atoms only of that element.

For example, the element Oxygen denoted with the symbol ‘O’ consists ONLY of oxygen atoms.

The element Hydrogen denoted with the symbol ‘H’ consists ONLY of hydrogen atoms. The same principle applies to EVERY other element found on the periodic table.

An atom, as you probably already know, is made up of three different subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons.

The protons and neutrons combined make up the core, the nucleus, of an atom, and the electrons are found outside of the nucleus in the orbitals. The mass of an electron is incredibly small, so an atom’s mass is essentially equivalent to the mass of its nucleus.

If you look at the periodic table, you can generally find the atomic mass for each element listed with significant figures, and if you examine the table in its entirety, you will see that the lighter elements are basically found in the upper rows of the periodic table, and the heavier elements are found below.

It turns out that the heavier elements are formed when the nuclei of lighter elements fuse together at extreme temperatures and pressures inside stars. This means that it takes longer to form the heavier elements. If a particular element takes longer to form, what do you think it means for its abundance in the universe?

That’s right. The heaviest of the elements are much LESS abundant in the universe.  That means they are less abundant on Earth, and less abundant in our bodies, in you and me.

Let’s go to our periodic table. Let me highlight the 20 most abundant elements in the human body for you.  

Now I am going to circle the 24 most abundant elements in the universe.

There is a major overlap, isn’t there?

Let’s finish our thought.

If heavier elements are in general less abundant, that would mean the lightest of elements should be enormously abundant, and it turns out Hydrogen, the lightest element on the periodic table, is the most abundant element in the universe.

While we can’t make a direct correlation to each element’s atomic mass to abundancy every time like we did with hydrogen, and that’s because there are other factors in addition to atomic mass that we need to account for, thinking about the periodic table this way helps us to utilize the information it provides to better think about the world that we live in.