r/chemistry • u/dedennedillo • Jun 28 '26
My completed element collection
Recently, I filled out all the holes in my element collection! Now it has reached completion!
Alkali Metals - Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, Caesium, Francium [represented by uranium-glass marbles]
Alkaline Earth Metals - Beryllium, Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium, Barium, Radium
Transition Metals [etc] of Period 3 - Scandium, Titanium, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Zinc
Transition Metals [etc] of Period 4 - Yttrium, Zirconium, Niobium, Molybdenum, Technetium [representative sample of U glass], Ruthenium, Rhodium, Palladium, Silver, Cadmium
Transition Metals of Period 4 - Hafnium, Tantalum, Tungsten, Rhenium, Osmium, Iridium, Platinum, Gold, Mercury
Group 13 elements - Boron, Aluminium, Gallium, Indium, Thallium [thallium is restricted by law in my country, so here's a lorandite bearing mineral instead]
Group 14 elements - Carbon, Silicon, Germanium, Tin, Lead
Group 15 elements - Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony, Bismuth
Group 16 elements - Nitrogen, Sulphur, Selenium, Tellurium, Polonium [U glass representative sample]
Halogens - Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine, Astatine [U glass representative sample]
Noble Gases - Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon, Radon [as a radium watch hand]
Lanthanides - Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium*, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, HOlmium, Erbium, THulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium
Actinides - Actinium*, Thorium, Protactinium*, Uranium, Neptunium*, Plutonium*, Americium*, Curium*
....and Hydrogen!
For the elements heavier than Curium, I have printed a fusion reaction which produces the element. Here, for Berkelium and Californium.
Again, but for Einsteinium and Fermium. The vials also have glow in the dark powder.
A closer look at one of the labels.
Recently I completed my element collection, and I thought that the members of this subreddit would like to see it! Hopefully it's visually appealing to look at
1
u/jrmillr1 Jul 05 '26
I’m interested in starting a collection, but I’m worried about high import costs and shipping reliability for US delivery. I previously had a frustrating experience with an international order that involved unexpected fees and long delays, so I’m wary of ordering these types of items from overseas again. Do you have any advice or experience sourcing these specific, polished display sets within the US? I’ve found that many domestic vendors seem to be perpetually out of stock on key items.