The periodic table of chemical elements is perhaps the most recognizable image in all of chemistry. Because it was discovered in 1869, the periodic table is celebrating its 150th birthday this year.
As such, 2019 has been designated as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT) by the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO. Organizations such as the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry are sponsoring the International Year of the Periodic Table. You can visit the IYPT site to learn more about how to join in on the celebration. To share events on social media, use the hashtag #IYPT2019. To celebrate IYPT, I decided to write a song, sing it, and shoot an accompanying video to honor this great achievement of science:
Chemistry is everywhere from ChemEd Xchange on Vimeo.
If you would like to try singing this song for your students, the lyrics can be found in the Appendix. The background music in the video is from ProSource Karaoke. The clips of various experiments seen in the video were taken from a variety of videos on my YouTube channel, Tommy Technetium. LEGO images of the elements were taken from our LEGO Periodic Table that was built back in 2011 at Spring Arbor University in Michigan.
I would enjoy hearing about any activities that you might be doing to celebrate IYPT. Please do share your ideas in the comments. However, please keep to yourself any comments you might have about my singing ability. I already know I should be keeping my day job.
Appendix:
Download the pdf to print the lyrics.
Chemistry is Everywhere – to be sung to the tune of “I”ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash
I sat down at my desk, so I could learn about some chemistry
When along came my brother, and he started making fun of me
“Why you wanna learn that stuff? Makes you look like a nerd!”
“Chemistry’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!”
He asked me what I found that was so interesting
And I said “Listen, this stuff is found in everything!”
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
It’s even in the air, man
It’s in your underwear, man
I know you man not care, man
Chemistry’s everywhere
There’s hydrogen helium lithium beryllium boron carbon nitrogen oxygen fluorine neon sodium magnesium aluminum silicon phosphorus sulfur chlorine argon potassium calcium scandium titanium vanadium (don’t hate me, man)
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
It helps to clean your hair, man
It’s in your underwear, man
I know you man not care, man
But chemistry’s everywhere
Chromium manganese iron cobalt nickel copper zinc gallium germanium arsenic selenium bromine krypton rubidium strontium yttrium zirconium niobium molybdenum technetium ruthenium rhodium palladium (Hi Ho!) silver….
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
Its atoms bond and share, man
Electrons like to pair, man
I know you man not care, man
But chemistry’s everywhere
Cadmium indium tin antimony tellurium iodine xenon cesium barium lanthanum cerium praseodymium neodymium promethium samarium europium gadolinium terbium dysprosium holmium (sing it again)
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
Chemistry’s everywhere, man
Lights up New York’s Times Square
Faster than Ahmed Zewail*
I know you man not care, man
But chemistry’s everywhere
Erbium thulium ytterbium lutetium halfnium tantalum tungsten rhenium osmium iridium platinum gold mercury thallium lead bismuth polonium astatine radon francium radium actinium thorium uranium neptunium (we’re almost done)
I know it’s hard to fathom
There’s a bunch more atoms
On the periodic table
But none of them are stable
I know you may not care, man
Chemistry’s everywhere…!
Why don’t you go a couple of days without drinking dihydrogen monoxide and come back here and tell me how boring chemistry is.
Why don’t you try starting your car or brushing your teeth without chemistry?
You can’t get away from it, bro
Chemistry’s everywhere!
*Winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on femtosecond chemistry
Safety
Safety: Video Demonstration
Safety: Video Demonstration
Demonstration videos presented here are not meant as tools to teach chemical demonstration techniques. They are meant as a tool for classroom use. The demonstrations may present safety hazards or show phenomena that are difficult for an entire class to observe in a live demonstration.
Those performing the demonstrations shown in this video have been trained and adhere to best safety practices.
Anyone thinking about performing a chemistry demonstration should first read and then adhere to the ACS Safety Guidelines for Chemical Demonstrations (2016) These guidelines are also available at ChemEd X.