Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev

BIOGRAPHY

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (February 8, 1834–February 2, 1907) was a Russian scientist best known
for devising the modern periodic table of elements. Mendeleev also made major contributions to
other areas of chemistry, metrology (the study of measurements), agriculture, and industry.

Early Life

Mendeleev was born on February 8, 1834, in Tobolsk, a town in Siberia, Russia. He was the youngest
of a large Russian Orthodox Christian family. The exact size of the family is a matter of dispute, with
sources putting the number of siblings between 11 and 17. His father was Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev,
a glass manufacturer, and his mother was Dmitrievna Kornilieva.

Education

At age 16, Dmitri moved to Saint Petersburg, which was then Russia’s capital city. He won a place at
his father’s old college, in part because the head of the college had known his father. He trained
there to be a teacher.

By the time he was 20, Dmitri Mendeleev was publishing original research papers. Crippled at times
by tuberculosis, he often worked from bed. He graduated as the top student in his year, despite the
fact that his uncontrollable temper had made him unpopular with some of his teachers and fellow
students.

In 1855, aged 21, he got a job teaching science in Simferopol, Crimea, but soon returned to St.
Petersburg. There he studied for a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of St. Petersburg.
He was awarded his degree in 1856.

He received a fellowship from the government to continue his studies and moved to the University
of Heidelberg in Germany. There, he decided not to work with Bunsen and Erlenmeyer, two
distinguished chemists, and instead set up his own laboratory at home. He attended the
International Chemistry Congress and met many of Europe's top chemists.

In 1861, Dmitri went back to St. Petersburg to earn his Ph.D. He then became a chemistry professor
at the University of St. Petersburg. He continued to teach there until 1890.

THE PERIODIC TABLE

Dmitri found it hard to find a good chemistry textbook for his classes, so he wrote his own. While
writing his textbook, Principles of Chemistry, Mendeleev found that if you arrange the elements in
order of increasing atomic mass, their chemical properties demonstrated definite trends. He called
this discovery the Periodic Law and stated it in this way: "When the elements are arranged in order
of increasing atomic mass, certain sets of properties recur periodically."

Drawing on his understanding of element characteristics, Mendeleev arranged the known elements
in an eight-column grid. Each column represented a set of elements with similar qualities.

He wrote the names of the 65 known elements on cards, much like playing cards, one element on
each card. He then wrote the fundamental properties of every element on its card, including atomic
weight. He saw that atomic weight was important in some way – the behaviours of the elements
seemed to repeat as their atomic weights increased – but he could not see the pattern.

Convinced that he was close to discovering something significant, Mendeleev moved the cards about
for hour after hour until finally he fell asleep at his desk.

When he awoke, he found that his subconscious mind had done his work for him! He now knew the
pattern the elements followed. He later wrote: “In a dream I saw a table where all the elements fell
into place as required. Awakening, I immediately wrote it down on a piece of paper.”

He called the grid the  periodic  table of the elements. He presented his grid and his periodic law to
the Russian Chemical Society in 1869.

The only real difference between his table and the one we use today is that Mendeleev's table
ordered elements by increasing atomic weight, while the present table is ordered by increasing
atomic number.

Mendeleev's table had blank spaces where he predicted three unknown elements, which turned out
to be germanium, gallium, and scandium. Based on the periodic properties of the elements, as
shown in the table, Mendeleev predicted properties of eight elements in total, which had not even
been discovered.

RELEVANCE OF THE PERIODIC TABLE TODAY

The periodic table has come a long way since Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev first drew up the
original sketches in 1869. While plenty has changed over the past 150 years, including the addition
of new elements such as Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine (Ts) and Oganesson (Og) in
2016, the underlying concept of the periodic table retains its relevance and importance.

Mendeleev designed the periodic table as a way of systematically categorising elements according to

atomic number, electron configuration and recurring chemical properties. This allows for the
identification of elemental characteristics simply by analysing its position on the table.

The periodic table organizes elements according to similar properties in order to predict the
characteristics of an element just by looking at its position on the table.

Earlier the periodic table was used to predict the chemical and physical properties. But currently, we
can also predict the properties of elements which are yet to be discovered by using periodic table,
although these new elements are all highly radioactive and break down into a more familiar
element.

The periodic table has gone through many changes since Dmitri Mendeleev drew up its original
design in 1869, yet both the first table and the modern periodic table are important for the same
reason: The periodic table organizes elements according to similar properties so you can tell the
characteristics of an element just by looking at its location on the table.

Elements in the same column as one other are known as groups, and they share similar properties.
For example, the elements in the first column (the alkali metals) are all metals that usually carry a 1+
charge in reactions, react vigorously with water, and combine readily with nonmetals.

Elements in the same row as one other are known as periods, and they share the same highest
unexcited electron energy level.
Another useful feature of the periodic table is that most tables provide all the information you need
to balance chemical reactions at a glance. The table tells each element's atomic number and usually
its atomic weight. The typical charge of an element is indicated by its group.

Before all naturally occurring elements were discovered, the periodic table was used to predict the
chemical and physical properties of elements in the gaps on the table. Today, the table can be used
to predict properties of elements yet to be discovered, although these new elements are all highly
radioactive and break down into more familiar elements almost instantly.

Now, the table is useful for modern students and scientists because it helps predict the types of
chemical reactions that a particular element is likely to participate in. Rather than memorizing facts
and figures for each element, students and scientists need only glance at the table to learn much
about the reactivity of an element, whether it is likely to conduct electricity, whether it is hard or
soft, and many other characteristics.

A periodic table is an important tool in the life of any school student or scientist. It is a massive
achievement of years of work that has categorized and organized a large system of information into
a very handy tool. It is also universally recognized around the world and easily translatable between
countries.

It has led scientists to discover new and exciting elements which have vast uses in our everyday life.
Without it, a lot of metals and useful elements we take for granted would never have been
discovered.

For example, massive research projects are undertaken every day by large pharmaceutical
companies, governments, and universities. These projects can take place over several continents, in
several languages and in different laboratories but they are all held together by the common
language of the periodic table and the science that underpins its construction.
https://www.thoughtco.com/dmitri-mendeleev-biography-607116

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