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Periodic Table of Elements

The periodic table arranges the chemical elements from lightest to heaviest according to increasing atomic number. Elements in the same column have similar chemical properties due to their valence electron configuration. Dmitri Mendeleev is considered the father of the periodic table, as he was the first to devise a periodic system that correctly predicted missing elements and arranged elements in order of atomic weight and valence. The periodic table provides atomic number, symbol, weight, and other properties for each element.

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168 views4 pages

Periodic Table of Elements

The periodic table arranges the chemical elements from lightest to heaviest according to increasing atomic number. Elements in the same column have similar chemical properties due to their valence electron configuration. Dmitri Mendeleev is considered the father of the periodic table, as he was the first to devise a periodic system that correctly predicted missing elements and arranged elements in order of atomic weight and valence. The periodic table provides atomic number, symbol, weight, and other properties for each element.

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tawananyashatheodore495
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com

Periodic Table of Elements

6-7 minutes

1. Home
2. References

The periodic table of elements arranges all of the known


chemical elements in an informative array. Elements are
arranged from left to right and top to bottom in order of
increasing atomic number. Order generally coincides with
increasing atomic mass.

The rows are called periods. The period number of an element


signifies the highest energy level an electron in that element
occupies (in the unexcited state), according to the Los Alamos
National Laboratory. The number of electrons in a period
increases as one moves down the periodic table; therefore, as
the energy level of the atom increases, the number of energy
sub-levels per energy level increases.

Elements that occupy the same column on the periodic table


(called a "group") have identical valance electron
configurations and consequently behave in a similar fashion
chemically. For instance, all the group 18 elements are inert
gases. [Related: How Are the Elements Grouped?]

'Father' of the periodic table


Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist and inventor, is
considered the "father" of the periodic table, according to the
Royal Society of Chemistry. In the 1860s, Mendeleev was a
popular lecturer at a university in St. Petersburg, Russia. Since
there were no modern organic chemistry textbooks in Russian
at that time, Mendeleev decided to write one, and
simultaneously tackle the problem of the disordered elements.

Putting the elements in any kind of order would prove quite


difficult. At this time, less than half of the elements were
known, and some of these had been given wrong data. It was
like working on a really difficult jigsaw puzzle with only half of
the pieces and with some of the pieces misshapen.

Mendeleev ultimately wrote the definitive chemistry textbook


of his time, titled "Principles of Chemistry" (two volumes,
1868–1870), according to Khan Academy. As he was working
on it, he came upon a significant discovery that would
contribute greatly to the development of the current periodic
table. After writing the properties of the elements on cards, he
began ordering them by increasing atomic weight, according to
the Royal Society of Chemistry. This is when he noticed certain
types of elements regularly appearing. After intensely working
on this "puzzle" for three days, Mendeleev said that he had a
dream in which all of the elements fell into place as required.
When he woke up, he immediately wrote them down on a piece
of paper — only in one place did a correction seem necessary,
he later said.

Mendeleev arranged the elements according to both atomic


weight and valence. Not only did he leave space for elements
not yet discovered, but he predicted the properties of five of
these elements and their compounds. In 1869, he presented
the findings to the Russian Chemical Society. His new periodic
system was published in the German chemistry periodical
Zeitschrift fϋr Chemie (Journal of Chemistry).

Reading the table


The periodic table contains an enormous amount of important
information:

Atomic number: The number of protons in an atom is referred


to as the atomic number of that element. The number of
protons defines what element it is and also determines the
chemical behavior of the element. For example, carbon atoms
have six protons, hydrogen atoms have one, and oxygen atoms
have eight.

Atomic symbol: The atomic symbol (or element symbol) is an


abbreviation chosen to represent an element ("C" for carbon,
"H" for hydrogen and "O" for oxygen, etc.). These symbols are
used internationally and are sometimes unexpected. For
example, the symbol for tungsten is "W" because another name
for that element is wolfram. Also, the atomic symbol for gold if
"Au" because the word for gold in Latin is aurum.

Atomic weight: The standard atomic weight of an element is


the average mass of the element in atomic mass units (amu).
Individual atoms always have an integer number of atomic
mass units; however, the atomic mass on the periodic table is
stated as a decimal number because it is an average of the
various isotopes of an element. The average number of
neutrons for an element can be found by subtracting the
number of protons (atomic number) from the atomic mass.

Atomic weight for elements 93-118: For naturally occurring


elements, the atomic weight is calculated from averaging the
weights of the natural abundances of the isotopes of that
element. However, for lab-created trans-uranium elements —
elements with atomic numbers higher than 92 — there is no
"natural" abundance. The convention is to list the atomic
weight of the longest-lived isotope in the periodic table. These
atomic weights should be considered provisional since a new
isotope with a longer half-life could be produced in the future.

Within this category are the superheavy elements, or those with


atomic numbers above 104. The larger the atom's nucleus —
which increases with the number of protons inside — the more
unstable that element is, generally. As such, these outsized
elements are fleeting, lasting mere milliseconds before
decaying into lighter elements, according to the International
Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). For instance,
superheavy elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 were verified by
the IUPAC in December 2015, completing the seventh row, or
period, on the table. Several different labs produced the
superheavy elements. The atomic numbers, temporary names
and official names are:

113: ununtrium (Uut), nihonium (Nh)


115: ununpentium (Uup), moscovium (Mc)
117: ununseptium (Uus), tennessine (Ts)
118: ununoctium (Uuo), oganesson (Og)

The classic Periodic Table organizes the chemical elements


according to the number of protons that each has in its atomic
nucleus. (Image credit: Karl Tate, Livescience.com contributor)

Additional reporting by Traci Pedersen, Live Science contributor

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