Periodic Table Database 🔬

This project is part of the Relational Database Certification from freeCodeCamp.
The goal was to create a Bash script that queries a PostgreSQL database to retrieve information about chemical elements.

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📌 Features

• Search elements by:
  • Atomic number
  • Symbol
  • Name
• Validates user input.
• Displays detailed information:
  • Atomic number
  • Name
  • Symbol
  • Type (metal, nonmetal, metalloid)
  • Atomic mass
  • Melting point (°C)
  • Boiling point (°C)

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🛠️ Technologies Used

• Bash scripting (user input and queries).
• PostgreSQL (database management and data storage).
• Gitpod (for running the PostgreSQL in a virtual machine).

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🗄️ Database Structure

The PostgreSQL database is named periodic_table and contains three tables:

elements table

Column	Type	Description
atomic_number	INTEGER (PK)	Unique identifier of the element
symbol	VARCHAR(2)	Chemical symbol (e.g., H, He, O)
name	VARCHAR(40)	Full element name

properties table

Column	Type	Description
atomic_number	INTEGER	Foreign key referencing elements
atomic_mass	NUMERIC	Atomic mass (amu)
melting_point_celsius	NUMERIC	Melting point in Celsius
boiling_point_celsius	NUMERIC	Boiling point in Celsius
type_id	INTEGER	Foreign key referencing types

types table

Column	Type	Description
type_id	SERIAL (PK)	Unique identifier of the type
type	VARCHAR	Category (metal, nonmetal, metalloid)

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🎮 Example Usage

$ ./element.sh H

The element with atomic number 1 is Hydrogen (H). It's a nonmetal, with a mass of 1.008 amu. Hydrogen has a melting point of -259.1 celsius and a boiling point of -252.9 celsius.