[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.60,0:00:17.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The periodic table is instantly recognizable.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.10,0:00:19.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not just in every chemistry lab worldwide,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.70,0:00:23.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's found on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and shower curtains.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.50,0:00:26.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the periodic table isn't just another trendy icon.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.32,0:00:29.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a massive slab of human genius,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.38,0:00:34.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up there with the Taj Mahal, the Mona Lisa, and the ice cream sandwich --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.57,0:00:40.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the table's creator, Dmitri Mendeleev, is a bonafide science hall-of-famer.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.25,0:00:42.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But why? What's so great about him and his table?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.93,0:00:46.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is it because he made a comprehensive list of the known elements?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.05,0:00:50.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nah, you don't earn a spot in science Valhalla just for making a list.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.27,0:00:54.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Besides, Mendeleev was far from the first person to do that.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.52,0:00:58.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is it because Mendeleev arranged elements with similar properties together?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.58,0:01:01.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not really, that had already been done too.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.42,0:01:03.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what was Mendeleev's genius?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.100,0:01:08.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's look at one of the first versions of the periodic table from around 1870.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.03,0:01:12.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here we see elements designated by their two-letter symbols arranged in a table.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.32,0:01:15.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Check out the entry of the third column, fifth row.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.48,0:01:17.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a dash there.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.32,0:01:22.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From that unassuming placeholder springs the raw brilliance of Mendeleev.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.10,0:01:25.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That dash is science.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.58,0:01:28.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By putting that dash there, Dmitri was making a bold statement.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.60,0:01:31.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said -- and I'm paraphrasing here --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.10,0:01:35.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Y'all haven't discovered this element yet. In the meantime, I'm going to give it a name.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.74,0:01:39.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's one step away from aluminum, so we'll call it eka-aluminum,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.75,0:01:41.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"eka" being Sanskrit for one.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.82,0:01:45.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nobody's found eka-aluminum yet, so we don't know anything about it, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.82,0:01:51.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wrong! Based on where it's located, I can tell you all about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.07,0:01:55.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First of all, an atom of eka-aluminum has an atomic weight of 68,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.72,0:01:58.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about 68 times heavier than a hydrogen atom.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.37,0:02:02.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When eka-aluminum is isolated, you'll see it's a solid metal at room temperature.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.97,0:02:04.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's shiny, it conducts heat really well,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.97,0:02:07.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it can be flattened into a sheet, stretched into a wire,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.40,0:02:11.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but its melting point is low. Like, freakishly low.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.62,0:02:15.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh, and a cubic centimeter of it will weigh six grams.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.57,0:02:20.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mendeleev could predict all of these things simply from where the blank spot was,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.13,0:02:23.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and his understanding of how the elements surrounding it behave.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.80,0:02:25.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A few years after this prediction,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.53,0:02:29.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a French guy named Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.08,0:02:31.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,discovered a new element in ore samples
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.32,0:02:35.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and named it gallium after Gaul, the historical name for France.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.10,0:02:38.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Gallium is one step away from aluminum on the periodic table.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.88,0:02:43.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's eka-aluminum. So were Mendeleev's predictions right?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.45,0:02:46.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Gallium's atomic weight is 69.72.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.92,0:02:50.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A cubic centimeter of it weighs 5.9 grams.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.75,0:02:52.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's a solid metal at room temperature,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.97,0:02:56.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it melts at a paltry 30 degrees Celcius,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.13,0:02:58.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.52,0:03:01.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It melts in your mouth and in your hand.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.05,0:03:03.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not only did Mendeleev completely nail gallium,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.97,0:03:06.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he predicted other elements that were unknown at the time:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.72,0:03:09.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,scandium, germanium, rhenium.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.75,0:03:13.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The element he called eka-manganese is now called technetium.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.90,0:03:21.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Technetium is so rare it couldn't be isolated until it was synthesized in a cyclotron in 1937,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.75,0:03:26.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,almost 70 years after Dmitri predicted its existence,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.20,0:03:28.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,30 years after he died.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.75,0:03:34.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dmitri died without a Nobel Prize in 1907, but he wound up receiving a much more exclusive honor.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.88,0:03:43.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1955, scientists at UC Berkeley successfully created 17 atoms of a previously undiscovered element.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.40,0:03:48.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This element filled an empty spot in the perodic table at number 101,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.24,0:03:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was officially named Mendelevium in 1963.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.62,0:03:55.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There have been well over 800 Nobel Prize winners,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.82,0:03:59.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but only 15 scientists have an element named after them.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.55,0:04:02.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the next time you stare at a periodic table,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.22,0:04:06.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether it's on the wall of a university classroom or on a five-dollar coffee mug,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.78,0:04:10.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dmitri Mendeleev, the architect of the periodic table,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.55,0:04:12.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will be staring back.