Animated CSS3 periodic table

By Creative Bloq Staff
published

You've got to have a play with this interactive CSS experiment by 'Mr Doob', created using three.js. Science has never been so fun!

The periodic table of elements (opens in new tab) is a popular subject for designers to showcase new web technologies, and this latest CSS3 experiment is the most fun yet.

At the start of the demo, the disparate elements gently fly towards each other

At the start of the demo, the disparate elements gently fly towards each other

Built by Barcelona-based web designer Ricardo Cabello - best known within the community as 'Mr Doob (opens in new tab)' - the demo starts with the animated elements hurtling through space towards each other to form a table.

You're then given the option to rotate them in three dimensions by dragging on your mouse.

Once the table has formed, you can rotate it through three dimensions

Once the table has formed, you can rotate it through three dimensions

You can also switch between 'Table', 'Sphere', 'Helix', and 'Grid' views by clicking the buttons at the bottom of the page.

Bear in mind that the demo uses cutting-edge web technologies that only work in the most modern browsers: we'd recommend the latest version of Chrome (opens in new tab).

'Sphere', 'Helix', and 'Grid' views rearrange the elements in different patterns

'Sphere', 'Helix', and 'Grid' views rearrange the elements in different patterns

Cabello created the experiment to see if he could use his three.js (opens in new tab) JavaScript library to replicate the effects used in a demo (opens in new tab) for the game engine famo.us (opens in new tab). You can find full details on his Google+ page (opens in new tab).

In case you don't have access to a modern browser, Cabello has also posted this video of how the demo runs on an iPad 2:

You'll find more of Mr Doob's projects on Github (opens in new tab).

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Creative Bloq Staff

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of six full-time members of staff: Editor Kerrie Hughes, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Deals Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Digital Arts and Design Editor Ian Dean, and Staff Writer Amelia Bamsey, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq. 

Topics
Web design

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