// MATTER · ELEMENT 3 / 118atoms.no/elements
Li3
Lithium
Li·Z 3·Alkali Metal·6.94·⭕ 7A · D Minor
▸ The reading
interpretive · artThe lightest of all metals — buoyant enough to float on oil — lithium now carries the heaviest modern dependency: the battery in your phone, your car, the grid itself. The same ion, prescribed as a salt, steadies the storm of bipolar disorder. One element holding both charge and calm is a reading that writes itself.
The science below is cited as science; the symbolic layers are flagged as interactive art.
⚜ Periodic Frequency
7AD Minor
a seat struck in brass — testimony, not prediction
the seat has its own room on ⭕ THE OVAL TABLE — tap the code
▸ The lenses
▸ Discovery
Johan August Arfwedson — detected a new alkali in petalite ore (metal first isolated 1821 by Brande) · Sweden · 1817
▸ Stellar origin
Big Bang trace + classical novae + cosmic-ray spallationOne of only three elements (with H and He) made in the Big Bang, but most of today's lithium is thought to come from classical novae, with cosmic rays smashing heavier nuclei supplying a smaller share.
▸ Reactivity
Reacts with water (less violently than the heavier alkalis)Lightest metal in the periodic table. Floats on oil. Forms LiH, the lightest stable hydride.
▸ Applications
- Lithium-ion batteries (phones, EVs, grid storage)
- Mood stabilizer (bipolar disorder)
- Aerospace alloys (Al-Li)
- Tritium breeding for fusion reactors
▸ Curiosity
The lightest metal on the table — light enough to float on oil.
▸ Related readings
a resonance drawn between readings — not a claim that they share an origin.