The Periodic Table

The periodic table has all the elements that ever existed. It's been put together in the order that the number of protons that every individual has in its atomic nucleus. Elements are organized by the increasing of atomic numbers. Those elements can be separated into two groups, metals and nonmetals. Metals are solid with the exception of mercury Hg, it's a liquid. Also they are well behaved with electricity and heat. Nonmetals on the other hand work poorly with electricity and heat, but gains electrons in chemical reactions. Some non-metals are liquid.

The periodic table was first made in 1869 by a Russian chemist Dimitri Mendeleev. He had a deep passion for chemistry and wanted to make the subject more organized. So he created the periodic table but left spaces for other elements he predicted for the future. Before he was ever able to create the periodic table, he wrote 65 known elements on cards - each element on a separate card. Then he wrote the fundamental properties (inertia, mass, weight, volume, density, and specific gravity) followed by the atomic weight. He noticed that the elements would repeat but the atomic number kept on enlarging. It wasn't till later when he woke from a nap that his mind had already solved the pattern to logically organized elements.

As you move from left to right (known as groups) the element's atomic number will increase on the periodic table, and if you read the elements horizontally down and up (know as periods) the first period has one orbitals for its electron. All of the second period's elements has 2 orbitals. So as you move along the periods the elements gains more orbitals with 7 being the most. Groups elements have the same amount of electrons in the outer orbital. Also known as valence electrons, it is the electrons that are incorporated with chemical bonds and many other elements.

Since 1869 when our first periodic table was made till today, we had - had some huge changes in the chart. We started of with 65 elements and ended up with 118 elements. It has helped everyone dramatically, now that the elements are organized it helps others understand better and to teach many people faster and properly. Dimitri is a genius who has made a huge impact in our chemistry history, he was able to put together a puzzle and even figure out about future elements. The periodic table is a mixture of our old world elements and our modern world elements that has help us figure out new reactions and chemical reactions.


 By Saidi Ayala


Article Source: The Periodic Table