Electron Energy Mapping +++
2006/01/04WMany exciting improvements have been made!
Electron Energy Map
Previously, I implemented an addition of a Bohrs Model diagram to the Standard Electron Orbitals Configuration (SEOC) minigraph. Now I implement another addition to it, an Electron Energy Map (EEM). This is a height adjusted display of the individual electron orbitals energy levels for each elemnt. This is sort of like a quarter of the Bohr's Model that has had its rings straightened out. The s, p, d, & f orbitals are color coded as on both the Bohrs Model diagram and the Standard Electron Orbitals minigraph with red, orange, yellow, and green. The intensity of the color increases upward with higher shell #s.
Like the Bohrs Model diagram, the Electron Energy Map grows and shrinks as you mouse over it. It also has similar Min, Max, and Grow/Shrink icons in the upper right corner. Importantly though, only one of the two can be open at one time. The only reason for this is that there is a limited amount of screen real estate available.
Data update
My data has been compiled from many sources. But the "true electron configuration" (TEC) data has come from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/contents.html). However, they don't have data for the TEC of all elements. From Rutherfordium onward, the data isn't yet known. So, my interactive periodic table displays something strange for electron information for those elements.
But some data has been updated. Rutherfordium now has a melting point. (Oh boy!) But also, two new elements have been added, Darmstadtium (Ds) 110, and Roentgenium (Rg) 111. Both of these were discovered in 1994 but hadn't been "confirmed" until recently. The truth is, besides their mass and year of discovery, not too much else is yet available for these two elements.
Access My Data
Some people have asked for direct access to my data. No problem. I meant to make it available via the "Output" menu choice within the application several "releases" ago, but discovered too late that my output method only works from within the Flash development environment. But, since I'm hopeful that I'll somehow eventually make that work, I haven't removed them. I have added HTML links to the data though. Please note, first of all, that this data is not formatted for your easy perusal, rather it is just a regurgitation of the database within the application.
The data comes in two forms, all the data for each element, and just the true electron orbital (tec) data. Please let me know if you are able to make use of this.
New Subwindow Positions
Adding the two new elements, Ds & Rg, to my table exposed a new problem, they were covered up by the Standard Electron Orbital Configuration (SEOC) subwindow. The SEOC and the Minigraph (MG) subwindows previously appeared on the right side of the space between the main table and the Lanthanide/Actinide chunk. But now there wasn't enough room.
Also, when the table was rotated, sometimes a subwindow in it's small state would be on one side of the table, but the subwindow in its big state would be someplace else and a repeated toggling of big small big small big small occurred.
With these things in mind, I decided to make the subwindows movable so that the user can reposition both the small and the large state so that it makes sense for his/her usage. The movable subwindows, the SEOC, the MiniGraph, and the Element Details, now have a new icon next to minimize icon. The move icon has a 4 headed arrow on it. When clicked, the move icon grows a little bit to indicate that you are now in move mode. Moving the mouse, repositions the window for its current size. Clicking again drops the subwindow in its current position. Because the Element Details subwindow is "trapped" within vertical columns of the table, it changes size depending on whether or not the Lanthanide/Actinide series is currently embedded. As a result, it has 4 positions depending on the current state of being big/small and Lanthanide/Actinides embedded or not.
It is possible to create some less than optimal placements of windows using this feature. If you just want them back where they came from, then press {CTRL-R} to refresh the window and restart the Interactive Periodic Table application.
The SEOC got shifted further to the right to make room for elements Ds (110) and Rg (111). The MiniGraph appear at the left of the Lanthanide/Actinide series. And, the Lanthanide/Actinide series needed to be pushed to the right. Once again, screen real-estate is at a premium.
Wikipedia Element Info
Normally, I disdain clicking, and prefer mousing-over, but sometimes a click is necessary. Also, my periodic table application, while I think it is the best at what it does, it is-not and never-was intended to provide exhaustive information on the individual elements. So, now I permit clicking on the individual elements to open another window pointing to WIKIPEDIA's data on the specific element. Wikipedia has a long history of excellent information and their data on the individual elements is no exception.
Wikipedia offers their own periodic table, but it offers scant little interactivity compared to my own. My idea of offering such a link comes from Michael Dayah who has his own HTML periodic table.
Bloat
Other than just my girth, this malady seems to affect my application as well. The result of these changes brings the application to 96kB. As such, you may have noticed a "pre-loader" intended to intertain you while the application loads. Unfortunately, this doesn't actually appear until most about 50% of the application is loaded. The explanation is complicated and involves "Frame 1 Actionscript linkages within Flash," but the long and the short of it is that the Preloader loads late. Something to fix in a future version.
Help Links
Finally, I've added a few links to the "About" help menu page. These include links to www.touchspin.com (my main page), the Frequently Asked Questions page, my main Chemistry Website, and a link to send Email.
Notes
OK. Why did I release this when it isn't perfect? I can only afford to put so much time into this and at the moment I'm near my limit. So, here it is, as is. Fixes hopefully will come in the future.
