Many Variations on the traditional periodic table have been proposed, but few have had success supplanting the traditional periodic table. Part of the success of the modern periodic table is the fact that it is read from left to right and top to bottom, as text is read in the Western world.
Spiral variations of the periodic table are quite common, most notably Thoedor Benfrey's 1960 version.
This arrangement of the elements focuses on the increasing atomic number in an ordered sequential
fashion. It is also interesting to notice that hydrogen is at the center and all elements radiate out
from it.
Physicist Timmothy Stowe's periodic table places elements in discrete levels. It is plotted in three
dimensions, with the three axes representing the principal quantam number, n the orbital quantam number, l
and the orbital magnetic quantam number, ml.
The triangular periodic table is arranged quite similar to the traditional periodic table. It uses tie lines to link the traditional groups together. The triangular shape allows the lanthanides and actinides to be included in the main body of the table in a position according to their atomic number.
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