Back to the elements

Over winter break at the University of Toledo, a new interactive periodic table exhibit was added to Wolfe Hall after a grant from Women in Philanthropy supplied over $30,000 to fund the project.

The display, entitled “Living Science: The Ever-Changing Periodic Table,” has been a vision of Kristin Kirschbaum, director of the UT Instrumentation Center for the past five years. Kirschbaum first proposed the exhibit as a real-life periodic table to the Women and Philanthropy group to be placed in the instrumentation center. The group originally denied it, wanting it to be more interactive and be placed in a more public spot, according to Kirschbaum.

“I’ve been dreaming about it for five years,” Kirschbaum said.

The wait was well worth it, according to Kirschbaum, since the exhibit is the only interactive exhibit of its kind in the area that combines science with current events in a way that engages the community.

“There are very few periodic tables in the world that are three dimensional, but they buy them as a ready set thing. With hours and hours of research, I think this is the only one like it in the world,” Kirschbaum said.

The exhibit has empty glass boxes for each element, where community members are able and encouraged to think outside of just science and connect the elements to every field.

“Claude Monet used to draw dark colors but then he changed to the lighter colors that we know today, he made a statement where he was asked how did he change his colors and he said he’s using the brighter ones — he’s using cobalt blue, chromium green, and lead white,” said Kirshbaum. “So there is one statement from an impressionist and an artist with three elements in it. It’s for everyone.”

Anyone is able to donate to the exhibit, according to Kirschbaum, and any and all ideas are encouraged. With money left over from the grant after building the exhibit, Kirschbaum said that they are even able to offer small stipends to help anyone with an idea for the exhibit to come in and bring it to life.

“The whole idea is that the community is going to build this,” said Kirshbaum. “So people should be inspired to not see chemistry as two dimensional.”

The exhibit was created by local carpenter Matt Hafner, who, after creating the case, became interested in getting involved and donating to the exhibit simply because there is an element similar to his name: hafnium (Hf).

“While researching hafnium, I discovered it is used in tips of plasma torches,” said Hafner to UT News. “I have one of those torches, so I’m considering making a video of how they are used on construction projects.”

Other elements have already received donations for the exhibit, including radium, americium and more.

Many of the cases tell a story. The case for radium tells the story of the Radium Girls, who were forced to use paint with radioactive radium in it while they painting the numbers on watches, Kirschbaum explained. The case holds an old watch with the original paint, as well as a picture of the factory.

For the element americium, a smoke detector was donated by a student, since all smoke detectors contain the radioactive material.

“Over the years, working with the women in philanthropy group we have tried to make it flexible,” said Kirschbaum. “Letting everyone get involved and as many people as we can.”

Not only can community members interact with the exhibit by donating to it, but the display offers two iPads that students and community members can use to access more information about the elements they see on display.

The iPads offer a variety of tools for the public to use, including an interactive periodic table app that goes into more detail about and tells you where you can find each element in everyday life, as well as an app that allows you to see what happens when certain elements mix.

There is also a webpage that corresponds with the exhibit, explaining each of the displays and how those items relate to the element they represent. This page is accessible on the iPads on display, as well as at icenter.utoledo.edu.

To donate to the exhibit, you can contact Kirschbaum at [email protected] or at 419.530.7847.