Fractality of Abundance-weighted N,Z-Chart of Isotopes and Systematics of Atomic Weights of Chemical Elements

The concept of atomic weights (relative atomic masses) of chemical elements and molecular weights (relative molecular masses) of chemical compounds is fundamental to chemistry and the problem to determine their values has captured attention of chemists for a long time. On the other hand, fractal ideas of Mandelbrot have been extended to studies of various forms in nature on a wide range of length scales, from astronomic to microscopic (such as clusters of galaxies, distribution of earthquakes, structure of coastlines and rivers, cracks in sedimentary rocks, protein surfaces, etc.). Fractal structures occur very often in nature, emerging as a result of evolution of complex interacting systems. A fractal structure can be linked to a certain power-law behavior of an appropriately selected quantity. In some cases fractal properties are »hidden« and can only be perceived if data are studied as function of time or mapped in some spe-