(There's a lesson here for anyone reading this who has a spare element handy.) A family member of his switched from lithium to a different medication around the same time he discovered my Periodic Table, so naturally he thought of contributing the leftover pills to the table. The source of this sample, Raph Levien, is as fascinated as I am by the fact that plain lithium is still a popular mood-stabilizing medication. By modifying in some poorly understood way how nerve signals propagate, lithium just happens to calm mood swings.Īn element is certainly a rather blunt instrument compared to, say, a carefully crafted organic molecule, but if it does the job, who's to complain? One theory is that because it is in the same column in the periodic table as sodium and potassium (all are alkali metals), it is able to stand in for them in their important role in the transmission of nerve impulses. Although the pills actually contain a lithium salt (lithium carbonate), it is the simple lithium that does the work.
Two examples, with links to articles about their uses, are carbon (legitimate) and phosphorus (historical). There aren't very many elements that are used as medical treatments (other than as nutritional supplements like iron and calcium). Lithium, just plain lithium (as a salt), has been used for decades as a treatment for manic-depressive disorders and other illnesses that effect the affect. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples): Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table. The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Here you can see a second one taken out of its outer casing: This is a lithium battery meant for some kind of camera.ĭefective lithium laptop battery that puffed up to twice its normal thickness.
It's soft enough to cut with hand shears, leaving marks such as you see on this sample.Ĭlick here to buy a book, photographic periodic table poster, card deck, or 3D print based on the images you see here!Īnother brand of lithium carbonate pills for bipolar disorder. The lightest metal, lithium easily floats on water, which it reacts with, skittering around releasing hydrogen gas. Pictures, stories, and facts about the element Lithium in the Periodic Table H
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