The first periodic table was not designed by Dmitri Mendeleev but by Alexander-Emile Beguyer de Chancourtois. It wasn't even a table, but it was a three-dimensional system for arranging the chemical elements.

Curator Rupert Cole demonstrates a working model of de Chancourtois’ ‘telluric screw’, which placed the elements in order of atomic weight in a spiral pattern around a cylinder. Watch as we turn the handle to see chemical groups, such as the three alkali metals lithium, sodium and potassium, align vertically down the rotating column.

Discover more about de Chancourtois' screw via https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/obje...

Stories From The Stores goes behind the scenes with our curators to uncover fascinating stories from some of the 7 million incredible items in the Science Museum Group Collection. Explore more of the collection at https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk

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