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sionnach commented on the word periodic table mapping
The periodic table mapping is one algorithm for converting text strings to integer values. There are restrictions on the admissibility of input text strings, because of the way the algorithm works.
The periodic table mapping associates an integer value with an admissible input text string by (i) breaking the text string into subunits corresponding to the chemical symbols of elements in the periodic table (ii) replacing the element symbols by the corresponding atomic numbers.
Thus Na-Sc-Ar (= Sodium-Scandium-Argon) ==> 11 21 18.
The mapping has the disadvantage that it does not return a unique integer value. For instance, another valid breakdown of the string NASCAR would be
N-As-C-Ar (= Nitrogen-Arsenic-Carbon-Argon) ==> 7 33 6 18. Thus, 733618 would be another valid answer.
It might be possible to specify conventions that would allow the mapping to return a single, uniquely-defined, value. But since these are just mindgames anyway, it hardly seems worth the effort.
December 19, 2007