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The History of the Periodic Table

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History of the Periodic Table

Before scientists discovered sub-atomic particles (protons, neutrons and electrons), they tried to sort elements by their mass. Today, we rank elements by their atomic number (the number of protons in an atom's nucleus).

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Newlands' periodic table

  • John Newlands was the first chemist to devise a periodic table.
  • Newlands' periodic table was ordered by the mass of the element.
  • But, the table was incomplete, and some elements were placed in inappropriate groups.
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Mendeleev's periodic table

  • Dmitri Mendeleev recognised that there may be undiscovered elements.
  • Mendeleev added gaps to Newlands’ table to account for undiscovered elements.
  • Mendeleev even predicted the properties and masses of these undiscovered elements!
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The modern periodic table

  • The discovery of protons and isotopes has shown that Mendeleev ordered elements exactly by relative atomic mass.
  • Therefore, the modern periodic table looks very similar to Mendeleev's (except the gaps are filled).

Jump to other topics

1Atomic Structure

2Chemical Bonding

3Quantitative Chemistry

4Chemical Changes

5Energy Changes

6The Rate & Extent of Chemical Change

7Organic Chemistry

8Chemical Analysis

9Chemistry of the Atmosphere

10Using Resources

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