Why Are The Periodic Tables Important?

[bainbrig]

No, not a homework question! Just in a long and varied education and life I’ve never really understood the importance or relevance of The Tables.

So, a simple explanation please.

BillB

[fiction-factory]

The columns (groups) are important - the elements in each group have the same number of electrons in the outer shell and so they have some similar properties. For example inert gases are in one column. Metals are in a columns and they get less reaxtive as yo go down the column

[fiction-factory]

Also the elements are in order of atomic weight and number starting with Hydrogen (1), Helium (2)

I can still remember the first 25 elements from school. Sad i know

[IJKLM]

Disclaimer: I gave up chemistry after O level (age 16)

The periodic table made sense of the elements.

Before Mendeleev saw the patterns, each element was a kind of random collection of properties.

Afterwards, there were 'families' of elements that shared certain characteristics: The halogens (Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine) - all highly reactive and often used as disinfectnts

The noble gases (they don't react): Neon, Xenon, Radon

The alkaline metals (very reactive) Potassium, Lithium, sodium

You get the picture.

Later research showed that the properties were defined by the number of electrons in the outer shell.

That meant scientists could identify gaps in the table and search for elements that might fill the gaps.

A primary example of that was the discovery of helium, a noble gas that was first found in the spectrum of the sun, and later found on earth (as a by-product iof the radioactive decay of Uranium in granite deposits and so on.

Does that help?

[Melanierogz]

Although it has a great importance for the know-how purpose. Environment changes and the study point of view. It helps you to remember that which Element relies on which group. I remember the most Famous Family like Helium, Neon, Krypton, Argon, and Zenon from my College Life ;)

[ToraToraTora]

ok lets turn this around, what is it about the periodic table that disturbs you so much?

[Peter Pedant]

oh I didnt give up chemistry

IJK has mentioned the group of threes ( Dobereiners triad)
and Newlands noticed repeats after eight - Newlands Octaves

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_periodic_table

and Mendeleev came along and said - this is what is happening

( called a unification ) His table was obviously 'right' and what is more had the hallmark of a good theory
You got more out than you put in ....
so he was able to predict new elements and based on their position what their likely chemistry would be - eka-Silicon as germanium for example

and ...one's enough - Periodic table_

[wolf63]

https://postimg.cc/image/6lhbtjcpb/

I can't help with the question but I remembered that I had seen this

[bainbrig]

Thanks for the sensible answers; that starts to make sense.

[bainbrig]

Jim. Answers are probably No, probably No, and definitely No.

[ToraToraTora]

ok, can you tell us why you thought it was not important?

[Peter Pedant]

on the principle of induction Jim
he has been a prat for the last n times
and so will be for the n+1 th

so no he cant

[ToraToraTora]

Jim:
a) You may as well ask why the number 0 is important.
b) I tried to but my answers were censored.
c) This is one of those questions that people who sneer at those that try and understand the world use, surprised you did not pick up on that yourself.

[ToraToraTora]

as you can see from the above I'm not really allowed to articulate here.

[jim360]

I'm not interested in turning this into a meta-debate about how to answer or treat such questions, but put simply, f-f's and IJKLM's answers were a model in how to respond.

[ToraToraTora]

bainbrig: can you answer my point at 21:29, that may help my hypothesis.

[IJKLM]

moving n from the thread derailing

Not only did the periodic table make sense of the otherwise random selection of elements, it gave insights into why different elements have similar properties, and allowed later scientists to investigate those various famiies to understand why they were similar.

In fact the helium thing was wrong - helium was found (in the sun's spectrum) the year before Mendeleev put together his first table- oops; sorry about that.

Mendeleev's first able gave clues to the sub-atomic structure of the elements, decades before anyone thought the atom might be splittable.

Once Rutherford and others started to understand that atoms were made up of smaller structures, the periodic table helped them to make sense of the newer, developing ideas.

So, I think it is one of those insights that made sense of the world as people saw it then; and furthermore made sense of the world, even after the revolution of sub-atomic physics.

That's pretty awesome in itself.

But then it also guided people to find the remaining elements that they had previously missed.

It's a really fundamental part of our scientific understanding of the world.