The Periodic Table: A Breakthrough Moment in Science
In the middle of 19th Century, on 17th February 1869, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev created one of the biggest breakthroughs in the chemistry called the periodic table.
Dimtri Mendeleev, Russian Chemist (1834 - 1907)
The United Nations proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first model of the periodic table in the Review of the Russian Chemical Society.
Mendeleev invented the periodic table based on the atomic weight of each element. Ever since the invention of the periodic table, the views of the chemists have been changed. The invention of more chemical elements made the table getting bigger. But the basic principle remains the same. Now, each element has its number and a fixed position in the table based on its atomic structure. Based on this table, it’s easy for anyone to predict the behavior of any particular chemical element. In fact, Mendeleev himself predicted the properties of three elements that had not been discovered till that point. – gallium, scandium, and germanium. Amazingly within twenty years, all three elements had been found and their atomic structure confirmed his predictions.
Ever since the periodic table becomes the ultimate reference guide for chemists all over the world.
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The wonderful thing about periodic table is it compiles not only the essence of chemistry, but also of physics and biology.
By
Srini