It is also used to predict the characteristics of new elements that have not yet been discovered or synthesized. It is widely used in chemistry and other sciences.
The chemical elements that make up the periodic table are found in order of families and currently 118 of them are known. However, the number that exists may increase in the future as scientists attempt to artificially synthesize new elements. Those with atomic numbers between 95 and 118 have only been synthesized in the laboratory.
The first version of the periodic table was published in 1869 by Russian chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev. It was built with the aim of visualizing the relationships that exist between the different chemical elements. Later, the German chemist Julius Lothar Meyer organized the elements according to each physical property that made up their atoms, but the currently known structure of this tool is due to the Swiss scientist Alfred Werner. Among its main uses are:
Contents
- 1 Using the Periodic Table
- 1.1 Know the names of the elements
- 1.2 Know the symbols of each element
- 1.3 Uses of the periodic table to know the atomic number
- 1.4 Know the atomic mass of each element in atomic mass units.
- 1.5 Identify the types of chemical elements
- 1.6 Identifying the significance of the groups and periods that make up the periodic table.
- 2 Order of chemical elements in the periodic table
Using the Periodic Table
Know the names of the elements
Know the symbols of each element
The Periodic Table of Elements shows how each element is symbolized, i.e. its abbreviation. In many cases the way they are abbreviated comes from what they were originally called in Latin. Each abbreviation is made up of one or two letters.
Uses of the periodic table to know the atomic number
The atomic number is the number of protons in the atoms of the elements. This is a very important factor in differentiating one item from another. The change in the number of neutrons or electrons does not influence so that there is a change in the element.
Ions are the result of changes in the number of electrons while isotopes are produced by changes in the number of neutrons. The modern periodic table is arranged in ascending order of the number of atoms.
Know the atomic mass of each element in atomic mass units.
The number refers to the weighted average mass of the isotopes in each of the elements. The organization of the original table by its discoverer, the Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, was such that the elements were presented in ascending order of atomic mass or weight.
Identify the types of chemical elements
Types of chemical elements can be identified in many existing periodic tables by using colors for the different elements that compose them.
These types include:
- transition metals
- noble gases
- No metals
- base metals
- semi-metals
- alkaline earths
- lanthanides
- actinides
Identifying the significance of the groups and periods that make up the periodic table.
The dots are those located in the horizontal rows. Each of them reveals the highest level of energy possessed by the electrons of the element in question.
Groups are located in columns that appear vertically. Elements in each group consist of the same number of valence electrons and behave similarly when interacting with each other. The use of the periodic table makes it possible to study in detail each element and its basic components, identified within these same groups.
The last two rows which are special, because in them are the actinides and the lanthanides. These belong to group 3B, they are separated.
Order of chemical elements in the periodic table
The use of the periodic table is formed by four blocks in the form of a rectangle whose chemical properties have a similarity. Elements that are metals are located on the left side of a row, while nonmetals are located on the right.
In the periodic table, each of the elements is placed according to its atomic structure. Each column and each row has special properties.
All elements that behave similarly are located in the same column. Each of the rows that make up the periodic table is read from left to right. It is not difficult to find the number of electrons in the table, this because, for example, group one has one electron, group two has two electrons, and the counting continues successively.
