Abstract: In this activity, we describe how the comic book Asterix provides a nice opportunity for students to think about chemistry. The character’s name in the comic is a good opportunity to help students memorize the elements from the periodic table. A list of the 118 existing elements associated with a character from the original comic series is proposed to establish connection between chemistry and the Asterix series.

INTRODUCTION

The use of high-success movies ¹ or trending games ^2–7 is a good way get students involved in general chemistry courses. Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a French comic series about Gaulish warriors, who have adventures and fight the Roman Empire during the era of Julius Caesar. The series was created in 1959 by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The series follows the adventures of a village of Gauls as they resist Roman occupation in 50 BCE. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid Getafix (Panoramix in the French version), which temporarily gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonists, the title character Asterix and his friend Obelix, have various adventures. The « -ix » ending of both names (as well as all the other pseudo-Gaulish « -ix » names in the series) alludes to the « -rix » suffix (meaning « king ») present in the names of many real Gaulish chieftains such as Vercingetorix, Orgetorix, and Dumnorix⁸ while the sufix “-us” is used of the Roman empires.

The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of elements, is a tabular display of the chemical elements, which are arranged by atomic number, electron configuration, and recurring chemical properties. The structure of the table shows periodic trends. The seven rows of the table, called periods, generally have metals on the left and nonmetals on the right. The columns, called groups, contain elements with similar chemical behaviours. Six groups have accepted names as well as assigned numbers: for example, group 17 elements are the halogens; and group 18 are the noble gases. Also displayed are four simple rectangular areas or blocks associated with the filling of different atomic orbitals. The elements from atomic numbers 1 (hydrogen) through 118 (oganesson) have all been discovered or synthesized, completing seven full rows of the periodic table⁹.

While some mnemonics techniques exist to know the table (“Happy Henry Lives Beside Boron Cottage, Near Our Friend Nelly Nancy MgAllen. Silly Patrick Stays Close. Arthur, Kind Cats Scare Tiny Vicious Creatures, Maintaining Feline Connections Nice, Cute & Zen. Gallium Germinates As Selene Brings Krypton”; “Scary Tiny Vicious Creatures are Mean; Females Come to NightClub Zen”; “Yes S(Z)ir, Nob. Most Technicians Rub Rod’s Pale Silver Cadillac”; “Late Harry Took Walk, Reached Office In Pajamas, After an Hour. Ladies Can’t Put Needles Properly in Slot-machines. Every Girl Tries Daily, However, Every Time You Lose”; “According to Thor Protects: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Amy Cured Berkeley, California. Einstein and Fermi Made Noble Laws”), it is always limited to a line or to the two-symbol letter. Some educators have tried to develop visual mnemotechnic alternatives periodic tables but they are just collections of items without following any logical or patterns without much sense. Recently some authors developed original periodic table with a logical sense between the element and a pop-cultured visual item such as Disney characters¹⁰, DC characrers¹¹ or Marvel characters¹². The aim of this paper is to present a novel periodic table based on the characters of the series Asterix.

The original name of 118 characters from the series Asterix in relation with an element from the periodic table is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. List of elements with a character from the Asterix series

1	H	Hydrogen	Hyapados
2	He	Helium	Hotelterminus
3	Li	Lithium	Lentix
4	Be	Beryllium	Berlix
5	B	Boron	Bonemine
6	C	Carbon	Chanteclairix
7	N	Nitrogen	Gracchus Nenjetépus
8	O	Oxygen	Obélix
9	F	Fluorine	Falbala
10	Ne	Neon	Claudius Cornedurus
11	Na	Sodium	Aniline
12	Mg	Magnesium	Mme Agecanonix
13	Al	Aluminium	Alambix
14	Si	Silicon	Septantesix
15	P	Phosphorus	Panoramix
16	S	Sulfur	Saingésix
17	Cl	Chlorine	Cléopâtre
18	Ar	Argon	Abraracourcix
19	K	Potassium	Kerøsen
20	Ca	Calcium	Caius Aérobus
21	Sc	Scandium	Soupalognon y Crouton
22	Ti	Titanium	Tullius Détritus
23	V	Vanadium	Vercingétorix
24	Cr	Chromium	Coriza (Zaza)
25	Mn	Manganese	Manneken
26	Fe	Iron	Faitexcus
27	Co	Cobalt	Comix
28	Ni	Nickel	Caligula Minus
29	Cu	Copper	Courdeténis
30	Zn	Zinc	Zøødvinsen
31	Ga	Gallium	Gracchus Garovirus
32	Ge	Germanium	Gélatine
33	As	Arsenic	Astérix
34	Se	Selenium	Ségrégationnix
35	Br	Bromine	Brutus
36	Kr	Krypton	Keskonrix
37	Rb	Rubidium	Rahãzade
38	Sr	Strontium	Spartakis
39	Y	Yttrium	Yenapus
40	Zr	Zirconium	Zurix
41	Nb	Niobium	Numérobis
42	Mo	Molybdenum	Moralélastix
43	Tc	Technetium	Tullius Octopus
44	Ru	Ruthenium	Caius Roideprus
45	Rh	Rhodium	Archéoptérix
46	Pd	Palladium	Pardessus
47	Ag	Silver	Agecanonix
48	Cd	Cadmium	Claudius Malosinus
49	In	Indium	Julius Epinedecactus
50	Sn	Tin	Sciencinfus
51	Sb	Antimony	Absolumentexclus
52	Te	Tellurium	Téléféric
53	I	Iodine	Idéfix
54	Xe	Xenon	Zérozérosix
55	Cs	Caesium	Jules César
56	Ba	Barium	Barbe Rouge
57	La	Lanthanum	Lachélechampignon Y Causon
58	Ce	Cerium	Cétautomatix
59	Pr	Praseodymium	Pronostix
60	Nd	Neodymium	Ballondebaudrus
61	Pm	Promethium	Pamplemus
62	Sm	Samarium	Caius Soutienmordicus
63	Eu	Europium	Encorutilfaluquejelesus
64	Gd	Gadolinium	Goudurix
65	Tb	Terbium	Tikedbus
66	Dy	Dysprosium	Dactilograf
67	Ho	Holmium	Homéopatix
68	Er	Erbium	Erix
69	Tm	Thulium	Tragicomix
70	Yb	Ytterbium	Ielosubmarine
71	Lu	Lutetium	Lupus
72	Hf	Hafnium	Tumehéris
73	Ta	Tantalum	Tullius Fanfrelus
74	W	Tungsten	Kiwoàlàh
75	Re	Rhenium	Tullius Fanfrelus
76	Os	Osmium	Obélus
77	Ir	Iridium	Satiric
78	Pt	Platinum	Petilarus
79	Au	Gold	Ordralfabétix
80	Hg	Mercury	Julius Humérus
81	Tl	Thallium	Triple patte
82	Pb	Lead	Aplusbégalix
83	Bi	Bismuth	Briseradius
84	Po	Polonium	Julius Pompilius
85	At	Astatine	Assurancetourix
86	Rn	Radon	Tournedix
87	Fr	Francium	Fercorus
88	Ra	Radium	Radius
89	Ac	Actinium	Acidenitrix
90	Th	Thorium	Théoric
91	Pa	Protactinium	Passmoilcric
92	U	Uranium	Uderzo
93	Np	Neptunium	Nenpeuplus
94	Pu	Plutonium	Pacotéalargus
95	Am	Americium	Amonbofis
96	Cm	Curium	Caius Marchéopus
97	Bk	Berkelium	Biscornus
98	Cf	Californium	Pasdfric
99	Es	Einsteinium	Epidemaïs
100	Fm	Fermium	Faimoiducuscus
101	Md	Mendelevium	Claudius Métrobus
102	No	Nobelium	Astronomix
103	Lr	Lawrencium	Liric
104	Rf	Rutherfordium	Rictus
105	Db	Dubnium	Doublepolémix
106	Sg	Seaborgium	Sanglier
107	Bh	Bohrium	Bonusmalus
108	Hs	Hassium	Histéric
109	Mt	Meitnerium	Maestria
110	Ds	Darmstadtium	Diagnostix
111	Rg	Roentgenium	Caius Saugrenus
112	Cn	Copernicium	Claudius Nonpossumus
113	Nh	Nihonium	Ocatarinetabellatchitchix
114	Fl	Flerovium	Flavia
115	Mc	Moscovium	Mac Oloch
116	Lv	Livermorium	Latraviata
117	Ts	Tennessine	Tournevis
118	Og	Oganesson	Olaf Grossebaf

This list, or the visual periodic table could be used as a mnemonic tool for student to help them memorize the periodic table in an entertaining way.

This table could be an opportunity to discuss the “magical potion” and to discuss chemical reaction and science as an outreach activity. Finally, the game Asterix offer a wide range of possibility to involve student in chemistry classroom

REFERENCES

1.         Collins, S. N. & Appleby, L. Black Panther, Vibranium, and the Periodic Table. J. Chem. Educ. 95, 1243–1244 (2018).

2.         Dietrich, N. Escape Classroom: The Leblanc Process—An Educational “Escape Game”. J. Chem. Educ. 95, 996–999 (2018).

3.         Adair, B. M. & McAfee, L. V. Chemical Pursuit: A Modified Trivia Board Game. J. Chem. Educ. 95, 416–418 (2018).

4.         Triboni, E. & Weber, G. MOL: Developing a European-Style Board Game To Teach Organic Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 95, 791–803 (2018).

5.         Dietrich, N. Chem and Roll: A Roll and Write Game To Illustrate Chemical Engineering and the Contact Process. J. Chem. Educ. (2019) doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00742.

6.         Estudante, A. & Dietrich, N. Using Augmented Reality to Stimulate Students and Diffuse Escape Game Activities to Larger Audiences. J. Chem. Educ. (2020) doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00933.

7.         Monnot, M., Laborie, S., Hébrard, G. & Dietrich, N. New approaches to adapt escape game activities to large audience in Chemical Engineering: numeric supports and students’ participation. Education for Chemical Engineers (2020) doi:10.1016/j.ece.2020.05.007.

8.         Asterix. Wikipedia (2020).

9.         Hoffman, A. & Hennessy, M. The People Periodic Table: A Framework for Engaging Introductory Chemistry Students. J. Chem. Educ. 95, 281–285 (2018).

10.       Chapman, K. A disney periodic table https://kitchapman.co.uk/a-disney-periodic-table/.

11.       Osa, R. A. de la. Tabla Periódica DC. Fisiquímicamente con Rodri https://rodrigoalcarazdelaosa.me/blog/2020/07/16/tabla-periodica-dc/ (2020).

12.       Marvel Periodic Table. https://marvelperiodictable.blogspot.com//2020/07/1.htmlhttps://rodrigoalcarazdelaosa.me/blog/2020/07/16/tabla-periodica-dc/.

I do not own the rights to any Asterix character. This is for educational purposes only. Sources: Asterix.com