App Review: Periodic Table of the Elements (iPad ONLY)

This is an iPad ONLY app.  To learn more about my recommended iPhone options for the periodic table, read the "Other" section at the bottom.

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App Title:  Periodic Table of the Elements (iPad ONLY)

Grade Level: HS, College

Purpose: A

Program Functionality: A

Overall Educational Value: A

Cost: FREE

 

Recommendation: 

The periodic table has been around since 1869 when Dmitri Mendeleev developed the first systematic way to organize the known elements of the universe and was used to predict the existence and properties of then unknown elements.  This app, designed by Kevin Neeland, does an excellent job of recreating the period table of the elements.

The top of the main screen shows the element name, symbol, number, group, metal/non-metal, state at room temperature, electronegativity, radioactivity, orbitals, and electron shell diagram.  The middle of the screen shows the periodic table, which allows you to select individual elements to change the information at the top.  The bottom of the page always you to cycle through various views of the periodic table (Number, Group, Metal, Electronegativity, Radioactivity, Melting Point, Boiling Point, and State). 

The Number view does NOT replace the atomic symbol with the atomic number.  This feature would be make this app so much better.  The Group view colorizes the periodic table into the various atomic groups.  The Metal view colorizes the periodic table to show which elements are metals, non-metals, and metalloids.  The Electronegativity view colorizes the period table to show how electronegative an element, with white being non-electronegative and red being the most electronegative.  The Radioactivity view colorizes the period table to show how radioactive an element is, with white being non-radioactive and bright green being the most radioactive.  The Melting Point view colorizes the table with white having the lowest melting points and bright pink the highest melting points.  The Boiling Point view colorizes the table with white having the lowest boiling point and dark red having the highest boiling points.  The State view is an interactive view of the periodic table.  By dragging the temperature scale across the bottom, you can see what the state of the various elements are based on the indicated temperature (given in degrees Celsius).  This is my favorite part of the app.

If you ever find yourself getting lost or confused, there are an Instructions tab and a Help tab at the bottom that helps explain things.  If you’d like more information about an individual element, just select the element from the period table and click the Details tab at the very bottom of the screen.

Overall, this is a very robust and terrific period table app for the iPad.  My only complaint about the app is the Number view does not show the atomic number instead of the atomic symbol.

I highly recommend the app.  With the app coming with a price tag of FREE, there is no reason high school and college students and teachers should not download this app. 

Classroom Use Examples / Ideas: 

I can envision students using this app to quickly look up valuable information about each of the elements of the periodic table.  It could be used during labs, homework, or while reviewing for tests.  I can also envision teachers using this during lecture to help them remember the information about some of the less common elements.

Developer Website: http://user.gru.net/nemesis/iphoneAppPages/

ITunes Link: Click Here

Reviewer Name: Trevor McGarrah

Reviewer Blog: http://www.edutechnophobia.com/

Other: 

There are other alternatives to Periodic Table of the Elements app.  For the iPad, there is also the EleMints (Free Version).  There is also an iPhone version of this app for free as well.  Both of these are limited in their functionality, but by clicking on an element, you can automatically be taken to the Wikipedia page to learn more than you’ll ever want to know about each element.  For iPhone users, the full version of EleMints is much more powerful and does everything described above and more, but comes with a $4.99 price tag.  For iPad users, there will soon be an EleMints 2 available which promises to have even more features than EleMints on the iPhone.  The price and release date have not yet been set.  For more about the EleMints family of apps, go here.

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App Developer looking for Feedback...

Check out I Education Apps Review Ning to talk with app developers and teachers.  TJ has a great example here of the power of bringing these two categories of people together... Check out his post at: Looking for some Feedback.

Hi folks,

Just looking for some educator feedback to assist in updates and revisions to current apps.

Stoichiometry Simulator
Calorimetry Simulator

Feel free to contact me for promo codes to download the app for free. All I ask for in return is some useful feedback to help shape the apps and continue to make them more useful in the different environments (middle school, high school, college). Also, feel free to pass the request onto colleagues in science departments.

T. J.

Thanks T.J. Let us know if you get some great feedback and help!