In some sense, what you might have suspected from the first day of high-school chemistry is true: The periodic table is a colossal waste of time. Nine out of every 10 atoms in the universe are hydrogen, the first element and the major constituent of stars. The other 10 percent of all atoms are helium.

Sam Kean

Sam Kean

Atoms Chemistry Colossal Day Element Every First Helium High-School Hydrogen Major Might Nine Other Out Percent Periodic Sense Some Stars Suspected Table Time True Universe Waste Waste Of Time You

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Despite its obscurity, probably no element on the periodic table has as colorful a history as antimony. Money, madness, poison, linguistics, charlatanism, sex - pretty much every theme that runs through the periodic table can be found in Element 51.

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The body tends to treat elements in the same column of the periodic table as equivalents.

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