Element
Chemical & Physical Properties
This is an online interactive
periodic table of the elements. Click on an element symbol in the periodic
table to get facts for that element. Printable periodic tables and a list of
elements by increasing atomic number are also available.80
More Periodic Table Information
- Periodic Table Study Guide
- Mendeleev's Original Periodic Table
- Element Photo Gallery
- Alphabetical List of Elements
- Atomic Numbers of the Elements
- Element Symbol Quiz
- Element Names Spelling Quiz
- Periodic Table Quiz
- Timeline of Element Discovery
- Trends (Periodicity) in the Periodic Table
- Introduction to the Periodic Table
- Element Groups
- Lanthanides & Actinides - The Rare Earths
- What Are the Elements in the Human Body?
- What Is the Most Abundant Element?
Introduction to the Periodic Table
People have known about elements
like carbon and gold since ancient time. The elements couldn't be changed using
any chemical method. If you examine samples of iron and silver, you can't tell
how many protons the atoms have. However, you can tell the elements apart
because they have different properties. You might notice there are more
similarities between iron and silver than between iron and oxygen. This is
where the periodic table becomes useful. It organizes elements according to
trends so that you can see the relationships between them.
What is the Periodic Table?
Dmitri Mendeleev was the first
scientist to create a periodic table of the elements similar to the one we use
today. You can see Mendeleev's original table (1869). This table showed that
when the elements were ordered by increasing atomic weight, a pattern appeared
where properties of the elements repeated periodically. This periodic table is
a chart that groups the elements according to their similar properties.
Mendeleev's table didn't have many elements. He had question marks and spaces
between elements where he predicted undiscovered elements would fit.
Why was the Periodic Table Created?
Many elements remained to be
discovered in Mendeleev's time. The periodic table helped predict the
properties of new elements. The modern periodic table is used to predict
properties and reactions of the elements.
Discovering Elements
The number of protons determines the
atomic number of an element, which is its number on the periodic table. There
aren't any skipped atomic numbers on the modern periodic table because new
elements are synthesized rather than discovered. The placement of these new
elements on the periodic table can be used to help predict the element's
properties.
Element Properties and Trends
The periodic table helps predict
some properties of the elements compared to each other. Atom size decreases as
you move from left to right across the table and increases as you move down a
column. Energy required to remove an electron from an atom increases as you
move from left to right and decreases as you move down a column. The ability to
form a chemical bond increases as you move from left to right and
decreases as you move down a column.
Today's Periodic Table
The most important difference
between Mendeleev's table and today's table is the modern table is organized by
increasing atomic number, not increasing atomic weight. Why was the table
changed? In 1914, Henry Moseley learned you could experimentally determine the
atomic numbers of elements. Before that, atomic numbers were just the order of
elements based on increasing atomic weight. Once atomic numbers had
significance, the periodic table was reorganized.
Periods and Groups
Elements in the periodic table are
arranged in periods (rows) and groups (columns). Atomic number increases as you
move across a row or period.
Periods
Rows of elements are called periods.
The period number of an element signifies the highest unexcited energy level
for an electron in that element. The number of elements in a period increases
as you move down the periodic table because there are more sublevels per level
as the energy level of the atom increases.
Groups
Columns of elements help define
element groups. Elements within a group share several common properties. Groups
are elements have the same outer electron arrangement. The outer electrons are
called valence electrons. Because they have the same number of valence
electrons, elements in a group share similar chemical properties. The Roman
numerals listed above each group are the usual number of valence electrons. For
example, a group VA element will have 5 valence electrons.