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Parodic Table of the Elements

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Mrs. Krabappel: Who can tell me the atomic weight of bolognium?
Martin: Ooh! Delicious?
Mrs. Krabappel: Correct. I would also accept "snacktacular".

The periodic table of the elements is one of those mysterious things that everyone sees in science class and almost nobody actually understands, so parodies of it are common. These generally break down into these categories:

  • Puts non-elements into locations in the actual Periodic Table, so that their names reference the names of the original elements. Generally, this ignores the actual point of the Periodic Table (namely, the fact that elements are not arbitrarily placed, but placed based on their common characteristics). This may overlap with Artistic License - Chemistry, and sometimes E = MC Hammer.

  • Tables that put new "elements" in columns based on common characteristics. You know, like the real thing. More often than not, these will have a shape unlike the real Periodic Table.

For a similarly irreverent take on the classical elements, see Bizarro Elements.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • There is a periodic table of M&Ms with elements defined by their colour and personality. For example, Ye (yellow) is Clumsy.

    Film — Animated 
  • Cars 2 has the Automotive Table of the Elements.

    Literature 
  • Earth (The Book) includes in the chapter on Science a "Periodic Table of the Synthetic".
  • Science Made Stupid has one here
  • The Science of Discworld has the standard table, except with extra space for narrativium, octium, and octagen.
  • Tools by Theodore Gray includes a Periodic Table Of Tools; as Gray had previously written a book about the actual periodic table, the tool version riffs on several features of it (such as the diagonal line between nonmetals and metals turning into a diagonal line between drills and wrenches).

    Live-Action TV 

    Newspaper Comics 
  • In one of Gary Larson's The Far Side comics, a Caveman creates a periodic table of the elements consisting of:
    Dert (De)

    Video Games 

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 

    Western Animation 
  • The Simpsons has the Oscar Mayer periodic table (which is mentioned in the page quote) as seen on the season 10 episode, "Lisa Gets An A." Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers are showing Lisa what the basic assistance grant money that she won for the school (by cheating on a test) can do for Springfield Elementary: get them a real tetherball set instead of a cinderblock tied to a bent pole, get them real working computers instead of the ones Gil is trying to sell, and get them real periodic tables instead of ones that were given to them by Oscar-Meyer as part of a promotional stunt.
    • Its been mentioned that Springfield Elementary can only afford periodic tables with 20 elements.
  • Aaahh!!! Real Monsters does it with phobias: Ickis has to go on some quest while the Gromble keeps the class busy by going over a chart of human phobias that's a direct parody of the periodic table.
  • The Periodic Table of the Elements of Harmony is a Parodic Table for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
  • The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Its A Sponge Bob Christmas" has the plot-important element Jerktonium represented by the symbol Jt.
  • The MacGuffin in the Phineas and Ferb episode "Vanessasary Roughness" is an element called Pizzazium Infinionite, which is located at the bottom right corner of the table, has the symbol PzI and an atomic number of 104 note .

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