The Periodic Table

Chemistry 11
 The Periodic Table’s History:
 We didn’t always have the periodic table!

 by 1817, chemists had discovered 52

elements
 by 1863 that number had risen to 62

 Chemists needed a way to organize the

elements
 William Odling: 1857
 Found elements could be divided into 13
groups based on chemical and physical
properties
 John Newlands (1863-1866):
 Assigned hydrogen an arbitrary mass of 1
and ordered elements by their mass
 Found every eighth element shared a
common set of properties (the law of
octaves)
 Very elegant model, but did not allow for
prediction of new elements
 Problem: every time new elements were
discovered, the table had to be rearranged
 Dimitri Mendeleev (1869):
 Russian chemist
 Organized the elements according to their
masses and properties.
 When he did this, he discovered that
certain properties recur PERIODICALLY
(like Newlands)
 Some properties didn’t line up, so…
…he left gaps in his table for elements he
proposed had not yet been discovered
 Thisnew periodic table allowed
chemists to:
– Organize and understand their data

– Predict new properties of elements

 Henry Mosley (1887-1915):
 developed the modern table in 1911 and
developed the Periodic Law
 Periodic Law:
– The physical and chemical properties of the
elements are periodic functions of their atomic
numbers

 Plain English:
– When elements are arranged in order of
increasing atomic number, similar properties
appear at regular intervals
 What Stayed the Same?
 Elements are still grouped by properties
 Similar properties are still in the same
column
What Changed?
 Order is by increasing atomic number
 Added a column of elements Mendeleev
didn’t know about
 The Modern Periodic Table:
 The table we see today wasn’t actually
“finished” until the early 1900’s.
– Strutt and Dorn added the Noble Gases in
1894
– The Lanthanides and Actinides were added in
the middle of the 1900’s
 Still changes being made today, there are
always discoveries yet to be made!
Major Divisions of the Periodic Table
 Period:
– The set of elements in a given row going
across the table.

 Group or Family:
– The set of elements in a given column
going up and down the table.
Families of the Periodic Table:
Metals, Non-metals and Semi-metals
 We can classify elements according
to their metallic character

 The Properties of Metals:

– Reflect light when polished (lustrous)
– Are opaque
– Are good conductors of electricity or heat
– Generally, but not always, flexible when in thin sheets
– Generally malleable (can be hammered into thin
sheets
– Generally ductile (can be stretched into wires)
– Usually solid at room temperatures (Hg is an
exception).
– React with acids
 The Properties of Non-Metals:
 Are gasses, liquids, or brittle
solids at room temperature
 Are poor heat and electricity
conductors
 If solids, are dull to lustrous in
appearance and opaque to
translucent
Semi-metals / Semi-conductors:
 Some elements share properties from both
metals and non-metals
 Semiconductor:
– A non-metal having an electrical conductivity which
increases with temperature
 A couple of important notes:
– Semiconductors were formally called “Metalloids”
– The important difference between metals and
semiconductors is that conductivity decreases with an
increase in temperature for metals.
 Trends on the Periodic Table:
 The elements change from
METALIC to NON-METALIC going
from LEFT to RIGHT across the
periodic table

 The elements become MORE

METALIC (or better metals)
going DOWN a family on the
periodic table
Alkali Metals:
– “group 1”
– soft, silver coloured metals
– React violently with water
– react with air
– form ions with charges of 1+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m55kgyApYrY
 Alkaline-Earth Metals:

– “group 2”
– reactive metals
– form ions with
charges of 2+
– react with air
(oxidize) – ex. MgO
Transition Metals:
– vary greatly in chemical
properties
– many have multiple
possible ion charges
– usually form colourful
compounds
Lanthanides / Actinides:
– Part of the Transition metals
– found at the bottom of the periodic
table
– varying chemical properties
– some elements are synthetic (not
naturally occurring)
 Halogens:
– “group 17”
– extremely reactive
– form ions with charges of 1‑
– form acids with hydrogen (ex. HCl)
 Noble Gases:
– “group 18”
– low reactivity (virtually unreactive)

Assignment:
– Periodic Table Worksheet