Periodic Wall of Elements

Fill a periodic-table display case with one-litre cubes of every pure element, one row at a time, and watch what happens. After Randall Munroe’s What If?

Some sets are better left incomplete

Rows one through five make a dangerous but survivable afternoon. Rows six and seven take the building, then the city. If you collect elements, stop at the radioactive ones.

Names on bricks Collector view

You, standing next to it

Health, fire and reactivity ratings for what’s in the case. The scale stops at 4.

Hover over or tap any cubby to see its element.

Scenario from “Periodic Wall of Elements” in What If? by Randall Munroe; the commentary here is paraphrased, so read the original. Densities are for the pure element at room temperature (gases at 0 °C and 1 atm), so the stated weight is what a 10 cm cube would weigh; values marked ≈ are predictions for elements never made in bulk. Collector categories are approximate. Keys: Space adds a row, 1–7 jumps, R resets.