Abstract:

Last year 2011 the International Year of Chemistry was celebrated. Different activities were carried out in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Cadiz (UCA) to highlight such event. Among them, musical-board software based on the periodic table of elements, and named Periodix, was designed in collaboration with students of maths degree and coordinated by the UCA based innovation platform ES4FUN. Periodix was presented both in the Granada Science Park and in the Science Week of the UCA.
Prototype software was implemented in Wolfram Mathematica. This is very well known software for a number of applications and disciplines, and it is widely used in the Academia all over the world, as a standard to make maths by computer. Software versions after 6.0 include interactivity tools that significantly contribute to student engagement. In the University of Cadiz Mathematica is used in different courses of the maths degree. In particular, the implementation of interactive Physics simulators makes part of the student evaluation of Physics courses. The ES4FUN coordination was made in the frame of such courses.
Periodix includes instrument sounds, audio synthesizer tools and rhythm sequencer. Tones are codified in terms of the different element properties. Values of the properties are explicitly shown. Melodies and chords can be created from the combination of different elements. Also, English pronunciation of the elements is included. Currently an app for tablets is under development.

Keywords:

Mathematica, software, periodic table.