Seven Least-known Facts About Periodic Table

The periodic table is an essential tool in chemistry that lets us know about the chemical and physical properties of different elements. As it organizes the elements according to their similar properties, the table is useful for students and scientists in predicting the intensity, result, and byproduct of the chemical reaction which will happen after combining two or more molecules. Moreover, it also lets us foretell the properties of elements yet to be discovered. As a chemistry student, you would be familiar with the history and features of periodic tables. But beyond this, certain facts need your attention.

Take a look at them

Mendeleev was not the only founder of the periodic law

Today the entire world knows Mendeleev as the father of periodic table. But actually, the credit could not be given to him alone as he had been assisted by a group of European chemists who made an important contribution toward formulating the periodic law. Working together, this group found that the physical and chemical properties of elements were related to their atomic mass. On the basis of this, they arranged the periodic table in such a manner that the groups of elements with similar properties fell into vertical columns.

New additions

The periodic table did not change even a bit since the year 1950. But in December 2016, it was republished and four new elements viz. nihonium (element 113), moscovium (element 115), tennessine (element 117), and oganesson (element 118), were added to it. These elements were named after their founders. For instance, oganesson (element 118) was named after the Russian nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian.

Man-made elements

Until 1937, it was assumed that elements are natural things that cannot be synthesized artificially. But now, we have 28 man-made elements in the periodic table. The best thing is that it’s easy to locate them: just look at number 93 to 118 of the periodic table. Well, all these elements are artificial, but four of them, i.e., elements 43, 61, 85, and 87 are rarely found in nature and therefore always created in labs.

Element 137

The famous scientist of 20th century Richard Feynman said that if the world finds its 137th element, there will be no way to quantify its protons and electrons. He explained this by giving the fact that 137 is the value of the fine-structure constant, i.e., the probability that an electron will absorb a photon. Theoretically, the element 137’s electrons would orbit at the speed of light. Physicists also say that such as element would probably unite three important domains of physics: the speed of light, quantum mechanics, and electromagnetism.

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The significance of element’s name

You might think that the names of the elements might be chosen on an arbitrary basis. But this is not true, indeed, there is a hidden meaning in each element’s name. The nomenclature of elements is either based on its discoverer’s name, the place where it was extracted from, a famous incidence related to it, or any mythological belief. For instance, Einsteinium was named after the famous scientist Einstein, and Uranium was discovered shortly after the planet Uranus was observed.

No noble gases were allowed

During the year 1894, when Mendeleev was preparing the periodic table, he found that the element argon did not fit any group and thus, referred to it as a lazy element and denied its existence. Later on, when similar inert gases were discovered, they suffered the same fate. However, later on, during the mid-20th century, these elements were given a different section in the table, i.e., the group 18 of the periodic table.

Carbon is the most important element

Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the world. Its chemical flexibility allows it to combine readily with both metals and nonmetals to form a chain. You might be aware of the fact that 20 percent of living organism’s body is made from carbon. Although our body parts consist many other molecules, such as nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon helps in combing them together due to its four valence electrons.

Hope you liked reading the information that we have shared here. If you are interested in getting more such information, then go through the official website of IUPAC. In case loads of college projects are not letting you do this, take chemistry assignment help from our experts.

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