Learning the Periodic Table with Haiku, Song and Mnemonics

The periodic table is a powerful tool that has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. It is an essential resource for anyone who wants to learn more about chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, medicine, or environmental science.

But then memorizing the periodic table is a tough task. The periodic table contains 118 elements, and each element has its own name, symbol, and atomic number. This can be a lot of information to take in. If you search over the internet you will find several tricks outlined to memorize the periodic table. I have outlined a few interesting approaches to learning the periodic table.

Did you know that human beings comprise seven octillion (7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 — that’s 27 zeroes) atoms

Haiku approach to learning the periodic table

Mary Soon Lee, British speculative fiction writer has created an interactive Elemental haiku, first published online in the August 4, 2017 issue of Science. There are 118 haikus, one for each element in the periodic table, plus a closing haiku for element 119 (not yet synthesized).

Eg:

Sodium, Na

Racing to trigger

every kiss, every kind act;

behind every thought.

Carbon, C

Show-stealing diva,

throw yourself at anyone,

decked out in diamonds.

Use a mnemonic device to help remember the order of the elements

Make a phrase you can remember using the first letters or symbols of the elements. For example, for the first nine elements, you might use

Happy Hector Likes Beer But Could Not Obtain Food.

Hydrogen (H), Helium (He), Lithium (Li), Beryllium (Be), Boron (B), Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), Oxygen (O), Fluorine (F)

Being a Mugger Can Surely Backfire Rapidly

Elements: Beryllium (Be), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Strontium (Sr), Barium (Ba), Radium (Ra)

Bouncers Always Gave Indians Trouble

Boron (B), Aluminium (Al), Gallium (Ga), Indium(In), Thallium (Tl)

Periodic table Songs

Elements Song

Tom Lehrer wrote his Elements Song – to the tune of the Major General’s Song from The Pirates of Penzance – in 1959, when the periodic table contained just 102 elements. In 2019 it was updated to include the additional 16 elements.

Here are the first few lines of the song “The Elements” by Tom Lehrer:

Hydrogen and helium,

Lithium, beryllium, boron.

Carbon everywhere,

Nitrogen all through the air.

Oxygen so you can breathe,

Fluorine for your pretty teeth.

Neon to light up the signs,

Sodium for salty times.

AsapSCIENCE Periodic table song

The lyrics for the NEW Periodic Table Song was created by Mitchell Moffi from AsapSCIENCE.

AsapSCIENCE lyrics

There’s Hydrogen and Helium

Then Lithium, Beryllium

Boron, Carbon everywhere

Nitrogen all through the air

With Oxygen so you can breathe

And Fluorine for your pretty teeth

Neon to light up the signs

Sodium for salty times

Hope you all liked the three approaches listed here to memorize the periodic table.

Which one was your favorite – Haiku, mnemonic, or Song?