periodic table

/pear"ee od"ik, pear'-/, Chem.

a table illustrating the periodic system, in which the chemical elements, formerly arranged in the order of their atomic weights and now according to their atomic numbers, are shown in related groups.

[1890-95]

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Organized array of all the chemical elements in approximately increasing order of their atomic weight.

They show a periodic recurrence of certain properties, first discovered in 1869 by Dmitry I. Mendeleyev. Those in the same column (group) of the table as usually arranged have similar properties. In the 20th century, when the structure of atoms was understood, the table was seen to precisely reflect increasing order of atomic number. Members of the same group in the table have the same number of electrons in the outermost shells of their atoms and form bonds of the same type, usually with the same valence; the noble gases, with full outer shells, generally do not form bonds. The periodic table has thus greatly deepened understanding of bonding and chemical behaviour. It also allowed the prediction of new elements, many of which were later discovered or synthesized.

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