Elementa: Hear the Elements

Light is 40 octaves above sound. Elementa takes the real emission spectrum of every element (the exact wavelengths each atom glows at, from the NIST atomic spectra database) and shifts it down precisely 40 octaves into the range you can hear. Nothing is invented: the pitches are physics. Tap hydrogen and you hear its four Balmer lines. Tap sodium and you hear the famous yellow doublet: two lines so close together that they beat, slowly, about once every two seconds. Neon rings low and red. Iron shimmers. Drag your finger across the table to strum through the elements. PLAY • All 118 elements laid out as an instrument. Tap, or drag to strum • Each element's true-colour spectrum lights up line by line as it sounds • Every line shown with its wavelength, frequency and nearest musical note • Strum or chord; pure physics or tuned to the nearest piano key • Visible light only, or the full…