International Year of the Periodic Table

By Sonam Euphel Choden 

 

Photo taken from AUW Science & Math Center's LinkedIn page

Hydrogen, the first element of the periodic table, along with oxygen brought the world alive. Just like we cannot survive without oxygen and carbon, if there were no copper, the world would have still remained isolated. If we could not use halogens as disinfectants, people would die from deadly microorganisms. If we see it clearly, we consume all the elements in the periodic table, whether toxic or not. Thanks to Mendeleev, we now know what are the elements that exist. So, as a tribute to him, scientists celebrate the International Year of the Periodic Table, and this year in AUW, we celebrated the 150th year. The program was organized by the AUW Science and Math Center along with professor Mosae and professor Kabir, the Assistant Professors of Chemistry. According to them, the program was done to celebrate the success of the periodic table. There were many chemistry related games through which the students were able to see how the nature works in fascinating ways. “We had to figure out chemicals which were not harmful.” This was a concern from the professors, since the event was organized in a big hall and there were plenty of students. They experimented by themselves before actually executing it. The professors originally had a plan to make hydrogen but the methods were not safe. However, the games that they organized were enjoyed by students and the event was a success. “Though being a science student, I never knew that periodic table year existed until today,” said Dechen Wangmo, a UG1 student who was among one of the participants. She mentioned that although the program was for a short period of time, it was very helpful for her and she is looking forward to more programs like this. She added excitedly that “it was fun and interesting to know that there are different ways to learn about the periodic table”. The program ended with professor Kabir’s concluding remarks about how different elements have different impacts in life. Just like professor Kabir mentioned, science is very useful in our day to day life. He promised that the science department will come up with more interesting programs like this to promote science.