The main importance of the periodic table is that it met the need that scientists had to give an explanation to the emergence of the concept of chemical atomism discovered by John Dalton.
The theories and investigations carried out until now were throwing similarities in the atomic mass of some elements, according to their properties. In 1817 Döbereiner ensures that such similarities exist and groups them into what he called triads.
By 1850 there were more than 20 triads. In 1862 Chancourtois indicates that there is a periodicity in the elements.
This statement led to that in 1864 Chancourtois, in the company of Newlands, created the so-called Law of octaves, but this did not achieve any progress after the calcium.
In 1869 Meyer determines that there is periodicity in the atomic volume of the chemical elements.
In this same year Mendeleïev is nourished by all the previous studies and presents a first version of the periodic table with 63 elements.
He indicated that some elements had not been discovered. These theories were rejected by many, but formed the basis of the current periodic table of Alfred Werner.
The 5 main reasons for the importance of the periodic table
1- Order
This table was created with the purpose of organizing in a more structured and coherent way the existing elements, according to the chemical properties they possess.
In the table you can see rows and columns, which represent the periods and groups or families. For its location the atomic number and valence of each element was considered.
2- Interaction
The classification within the table of each element allows to determine how these act, since they belong to the same group.
This location indicates how the outer layer is in terms of electrons, and in turn the chemical and physical characteristics of the element are known.
3- Classification
The periodic table has allowed predicting the existence of various elements that have not yet been discovered.
For elements already located in the table and the periodicity found, there are still empty spaces that indicate the composition of the element that has not yet been found.
An example of this was the official incorporation in 2016 of boxes 113, 115, 117 and 118, having found the elements that fit in their description.
4- Learning
The table allows, through the knowledge of the composition of each element, that interactions between them can be planned or avoided.
Knowing chemistry and physically an element can anticipate the knowledge of reactions, so it is necessary for chemists to handle it fully.
5- Academy
In the field of learning and education, for those who start in chemistry or enter the hard sciences, the periodic table represents the fundamental basis of knowledge and references to start serious and applied scientific analysis.
A student must know that every element is constituted by electrons, protons and neutrons.
In the periodic table all the necessary information of the elements is supplied, finding in the bottom part of the element a number representing the atomic value and in the top part the mass number.
This information is fundamental to understand the behavior of the elements and their subsequent reactions.
References
- Bodie Eugene Douglas, J. J. (1994). Concepts and models of inorganic chemistry. Spain: Reverte.
- Moeller, T. (1981). Inorganic chemistry. Barcelona Spain: Reverte.
- Scerri, E. R. (2011). The Periodic Table: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford OUP.
- Table, t. p. (2007). The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- White, K. (2005). Mendeleyev and the Periodic Table. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.