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Atoms and God’s order in the

fundamental building blocks of all
substance
The Periodic Table of chemical elements
by Craig A. Perman

The beauty and organization of God’s creation

commons.wikimedia.org
can be seen all around us in the macroscopic
world. Everything we observe from plant life,
stars, animals, rocks, air, and water—virtually
everything—is composed of 90 naturally
occurring building blocks known as atoms.
Order starts with atoms and the subatomic
particles that comprise them. This orderliness
is not a random or haphazard assemblage of
particles happening by accident or
spontaneously organizing without an intelligent
cause. Looking into the nature of atoms,
creation is clearly seen. When God created, He
brought order to the universe even in the
smallest things, for God is not the author of Dream idea: Dmitri Mendeleev
confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). (1834–1907).
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 Mendeleev predicted the discovery of a missing element he called ‘ekasilicon’ on
paper after observing a gap in the Periodic Table between silicon and tin

Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907), a Russian chemist, developed a formal organization of

the elements in 1869 after having a dream.1 “I saw in a dream a table where all
elements fell into place as required. Awakening, I immediately wrote it down on a piece
of paper—only in one place did a correction later seem necessary.”2 Mendeleev’s table
is noteworthy because it exhibits the most accurate values for atomic mass allowing
one to recognize trends over the entire array of elements. Mendeleev saw that the 65
then-known elements in the table lie at the heart of chemistry but that it was
incomplete. There were spaces where elements could be located but no one at that
time had discovered them. Mendeleev predicted the discovery of a missing element
he called ‘ekasilicon’ on paper after observing a gap in the Periodic Table between
silicon and tin. When the new element was discovered and named ‘germanium’, its
properties closely matched Mendeleev’s predictions of ‘ekasilicon’ for atomic mass,
density, and melting point.
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 The Periodic Table
Order and pattern can be clearly seen in the table, one of the most powerful and
perhaps least understood tools of science. Atoms’ organized structure leads to
predictable attributes and chemical behaviour, so predictions can be made on how
atoms will bond or react with other atoms to form complex, multi-atom chemical
compounds such as DNA. Atoms are periodic because of the way that subatomic
particles are arranged and added to each atom; hence they can be systematically
placed in a table. Chemists use this table in their work, and everyone can understand
structural beauty from a creator God.

The Periodic Table tells us many things. Most prominent is atom type, distinctively
identified by a two letter symbol, its etymology primarily from abbreviations of Latin
and Greek names, or the discoverer of the element, and the atomic number of an
element Z3 which is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus. The atomic
weight is the total weight of protons plus neutrons found in the nucleus.

Comprehension of the Periodic Table’s

organization may seem like a daunting task but a
fundamental understanding can be achieved after
a description of atomic structure. An atom is the
smallest unit of matter that has all the chemical
properties of that particular substance. This
material, otherwise known as an element, cannot
be broken down or changed into another
substance by chemical means. The structure of an
atom consists of protons and neutrons in the
nucleus, and electrons that move around the
nucleus in specific energy levels, known as shells.
Figure 1.
Shells, also called principal energy levels, are
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 designated K, L, M or 1, 2, 3. These in turn are divided into s, p, d, and f orbital types4
(sometimes called subshells) each capable of holding a maximum of 2 electrons. The
1st innermost shell s, can hold up to two electrons, the 2nd shell can hold up to eight
(2s2 + 2p6) electrons, the 3rd shell can hold up to 18 (3s2 + 3p6 + 3d10) electrons. The
general formula is that the nth shell can in principle hold up to 2n2 electrons. As the
atomic number of the element increases, electrons are added systematically, and in a
specific and orderly manner to the orbitals as protons are added to the nucleus, called
the Aufbau principle. This generally fills the inner shells first before filling the outer
ones. The fact that electrons preferentially fill the lowest energy empty orbitals is the
basis for determining the electron configuration of the elements and the structure of
the Periodic Table. Figure 1 is a simple diagram to help determine the order of shell
filling. From this diagram the electron configuration of any atom can be determined.
Orbital types have their own characteristic shape as shown in Figure 2.

In the Periodic Table, a horizontal

Period, represented by rows 1-7,
starts with hydrogen (H) and
lithium (Li), and indicates the
number of electron shells in an
atom. H is the simplest atom with
one electron and one proton. Li
has three electrons and a nucleus
with three protons and four Figure 2.
neutrons. The primary
determinant of an element’s
chemical properties is the valance shell or outermost electrons.

Atoms on the left side of the table might be said to have a loose hold on their
electrons, while elements on the right side (with the exception of the Noble gases5)
readily attract electrons thereby freely forming bonds with other elements. A chemical
reaction or bonding occurs when outer electrons are shared with another atom. The
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 building up of heavier atoms from hydrogen proceeds by adding, one by one, a
positive charged proton to the nucleus and a neutrally charged neutron as required for
mass number. Each proton is matched with the addition of a negatively charged
electron. This systematic addition maintains a neutral atomic charge making a family
of elements of similar properties such as, for example, the halogens, starting with
fluorine.

Atoms are not chaotic in their assembly but have an orderly arrangement in the way
that electrons are added to orbitals, and protons and neutrons in the nucleus

A group or family, represented by each of the vertical columns 1-18, indicates the
number of electrons in the outermost shell. Moving down group 1, under hydrogen
there are the alkali metals—lithium, sodium and so on—which have similar chemical
properties in terms of their chemical reactivity. They are all soft metals that react
readily with water. This is because they all have one loosely held electron that can be
easily lost. The second group, known as the alkaline earth elements, starting with
beryllium have 2 electrons that are easily lost. The same can be said about other
elements in the remaining columns moving right across the table. The number of
electrons and protons is consecutive across the table starting with Z=1 for hydrogen
(H) and ending with Z=116 Livermorium (Lv), the heaviest synthetic element6, in the
lower right corner. Heavier synthetic elements may also have been discovered up to
Z=118.

Progressing from the lightest elements on the left side of the table to the heaviest
atoms on the right side of the table, certain properties of the elements approximate
those of elements presented above them. These properties occur at regular intervals
of 2, 8, 18, and 32 in the group. For example, the 18 group element helium is similar in
its chemical behavior to neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon below it. Known as
the noble gases, they are inert or unreactive, although krypton and xenon form a few
compounds. The chemical family called the halogens, group 17, composed of
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 elements fluorine (Z=9), chlorine (Z=17), bromine (Z=35), iodine, (Z=53), and astatine
(Z=85), are extremely reactive and readily bond with group 1 and 2 elements by
accepting electrons.

Conclusion
God’s organization of the universe can be seen in the smallest unit of substance, the
atom. They are the fundamental building blocks of all materials. Atoms are not chaotic
in their assembly but have an orderly arrangement in the way that electrons are added
to orbitals, and protons and neutrons in the nucleus. This accounts for their periodic
and predictable attributes which a God of order has created.

Published: 9 November 2014

References and notes

1. Garret, A. B., Lippincott, W.T., Chemistry A Study of Matter, Blaisdell Publishing
Co., Watham, MA, 1968. Return to text.

2. Sharpe, M.E., The Soviet Review Translations, Summer 1967, Vol. VIII, No. 2, p.
38, digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu. Return to text.

3. Z from the German Zahl meaning number. Return to text.

4. These letters originally came from description of lines in atomic spectra: sharp,
principal, diffuse, and fundamental. Return to text.

5. Noble gases all have filled orbitals and are in a stable configuration. Return to
text.

6. In chemistry, a synthetic element is a chemical element that does not occur

naturally but is created artificially. Return to text.

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