the Alexander Arrangement of the Elements - part 1 of 3

This improvement for learning and using the periodic table was originated by a science exhibit designer, Roy Alexander, to eliminate the confusion and apparent inconsistencies in the flat table by arranging the elements contiguously and continuously according to the atomic number without disturbing the accepted group and property interrelationships previously found in the periodic chart.

The resulting 3-D form has three parts looping outwards from a relatively central point. The elements in Groups 0, Ia, IIa, IIIb, IVb, Vb, and VIIIb are in the narrowest and tallest part, which forms a tube in the upper part, topped by a `crown' of Hydrogen. From the lower part of this component the sides branch to a more lengthy loop showing groups IIIa, IVa, Va, VIa, VIIa, VIII, Ib, and IIb. From the lower half of this, a third, and longest loop protrudes, the f-block. (continued)