Development of the periodic table

Although elements such as gold, silver, tin, copper, lead and mercury have been known since earliest times, the first scientific discovery of an element occurred in 1649. Hennig Brand, a German alchemist, treated urine to a series of processes that resulted in the production of the element phosphorus. Over the next 200 years, a great deal of knowledge about elements and compounds was gained. By the middle of the 19th century, about 60 elements had been discovered. Scientists began to recognize patterns in the properties of these elements and set about developing classification schemes: In 1862, French geologist Alexandre-Emile Bguyer de Chancourtois listed the elements on paper tape and wound them, spiral like, around a cylinder. Certain threes of elements with similar properties came together down the cylinder. He called his model the telluric screw. In 1864, English chemist John Newlands noticed that, if the elements were arranged in order of atomic weight, there was a periodic similarity every 8 elements. He proposed his law of octaves on this. In 1869, Lothar Meyer complied a periodic table of 56 elements based on a regular repeating pattern of physical properties such as molar volume. Once again, the elements were arranged in order of Dmitri Mendeleev increasing atomic weights. Also in 1869, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev produced a periodic table based on atomic weights but arranged periodically. Elements with similar properties appeared under each other. Gaps were left for yet to be discovered elements.

In 1894, William Ramsay discovered the noble gases and realized that they represented a new group in the periodic table. In 1914, Henry Moseley determined the atomic number of each of the known elements. He realized that, if the elements were arranged in order of increasing atomic number rather than atomic weight, they gave a better fit within the periodic table. In 1940, Glenn Seaborg artificially produced heavy mass elements such as neptunium. These new elements were part of a new block of the periodic table called actinides.

William Ramsay

Glenn Seaborg

The periodic table today Most school science laboratories have a copy of the periodic table pinned to a wall somewhere. Close inspection of the table shows the following distribution of types of element.

Differentiate: Horizontal Group

Periods in the periodic table In each period (horizontal row), the atomic numbers increase from left to right. The periods are numbered 1 through 7 on the left-hand side of the table. Elements that are in the same period have chemical properties that are not all that similar. Consider the first two members of period 3: sodium (Na) and magnesium (Mg). In reactions, they both tend to lose electrons (after all, they are metals), but sodium loses one electron, while magnesium loses two. Chlorine (Cl), down near the end of the period, tends to gain an electron (its a nonmetal).

Vertical Group
Families in the periodic table Members of the families (vertical columns) in the periodic table have similar properties. The families are labeled at the top of the columns in one of two ways:

The older method uses Roman numerals and letters. Many chemists prefer and still use this method. The newer method uses the numbers 1 through 18.

The figure below lists some important families that are given special names:

The IA family is made up of the alkali metals. In reactions, these elements all tend to lose a single electron. This family contains some important elements, such as sodium (Na) and potassium (K). Both of these elements play an important role in the chemistry of the body and are commonly found in salts. The IIA family is made up of the alkaline earth metals. All these elements tend to lose two electrons. Calcium (Ca) is an important member of the IIA family (you need calcium for healthy teeth and bones). The VIIA family is made up of the halogens. They all tend to gain a single electron in reactions. Important members in the family include chlorine (Cl), used in making table salt and bleach, and iodine (I). The VIIIA family is made up of the noble gases. These elements are very unreactive. For a long time, the noble gases were called the inert gases, because people thought that these elements wouldnt react at all. A scientist named Neil Bartlett showed that at least some of the inert gases could be reacted, but they required very special conditions. After Bartletts discovery, the gases were then referred to as noble gases.

Group
Most of the elements are metals. Metalloids are elements that have some of the physical properties of metals but some of the chemical properties of non-metals. Antimony, for example, conducts electricity but its chemistry resembles that of the non-metal phosphorus. In chemistry, a group (also known as a family) is a column of elements in the periodic table of the chemical elements. There are 18 numbered groups in the standard periodic table, including the d-block elements, but excluding the f-block elements. The explanation of the pattern of the table is that the elements in a group have similar physical or chemical characteristic of the outermost electron shells of their atoms (i.e., the same core charge), as most chemical properties are dominated by the orbital location of the outermost electron. There are three systems of group numbering. The modern numbering group 1 to group 18 is recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). It replaces two older naming schemes that were mutually confusing. Also, groups may be identified by their topmost element, like oxygen group (group 16) and some groups have a specific name, like chalcogen (group 16).

Period
In the periodic table of the elements, elements are arranged in a series of rows (or periods) so that those with similar properties appear in a column. Elements of the same period have the same number of electron shells; with each group across a period, the elements have one more proton and electron and become less metallic. This arrangement reflects the periodic recurrence of similar properties as the atomic number increases. For example, the alkaline metals lie in one group (group 1) and share similar properties, such as high reactivity and the tendency to lose one electron to arrive at a noble-gas electronic configuration. The periodic table of elements has a total of 118 elements.

Periodic Properties
The properties of the elements exhibit trends. These trends can be predicted using the periodic table and can be explained and understood by analyzing the electron configurations of the elements. Elements tend to gain or lose valence electrons to achieve stable octet formation. Stable octets are seen in the inert gases, or noble gases, of Group VIII of the periodic table. In addition to this activity, there are two other important trends. First, electrons are added one at a time moving from left to right across a period. As this happens, the electrons of the outermost shell experience increasingly strong nuclear attraction, so the electrons become closer to the nucleus and more tightly bound to it. Second, moving down a column in the periodic table, the outermost electrons become less tightly bound to the nucleus. This happens because the number of filled principal energy levels (which shield the outermost electrons from attraction to the nucleus) increases downward within each group. These trends explain the periodicity observed in the elemental properties of atomic radius, ionization energy, electron affinity, and electronegativity.

Atomic Radius
The atomic radius of an element is half of the distance between the centers of two atoms of that element that are just touching each other. Generally, the atomic radius decreases across a period from left to right and increases down a given group. The atoms with the largest atomic radii are located in Group I and at the bottom of groups. Moving from left to right across a period, electrons are added one at a time to the outer energy shell. Electrons within a shell cannot shield each other from the attraction to protons. Since the number of protons is also increasing, the effective nuclear charge increases across a period. This causes the atomic radius to decrease. Moving down a group in the periodic table, the number of electrons and filled electron shells increases, but the number of valence electrons remains the same. The outermost electrons in a group are exposed to the same effective nuclear charge, but electrons are found farther from the nucleus as the number of filled energy shells increases. Therefore, the atomic radii increase.

Ionization Energy
The ionization energy, or ionization potential, is the energy required to completely remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion. The closer and more tightly bound an electron is to the nucleus, the more difficult it will be to remove, and the higher its ionization energy will be. The first ionization energy is the energy required to remove one electron from the parent atom. The second ionization energy is the energy required to remove a second valence electron from the univalent ion to form the divalent ion, and so on. Successive ionization energies increase. The second ionization energy is always greater than the first ionization energy. Ionization energies increase moving from left to right across a period (decreasing atomic radius). Ionization energy decreases moving down a group (increasing atomic radius). Group I elements have low ionization energies because the loss of an electron forms a stable octet.

Electron Affinity
Electron affinity reflects the ability of an atom to accept an electron. It is the energy change that occurs when an electron is added to a gaseous atom. Atoms with stronger effective nuclear charge have greater electron affinity. Some generalizations can be made about the electron affinities of certain groups in the periodic table. The Group IIA elements, the alkaline earths, have low electron affinity values. These elements are relatively stable because they have filled s subshells. Group VIIA elements, the halogens, have high electron affinities because the addition of an electron to an atom results in a completely filled shell. Group VIII elements, noble gases, have electron affinities near zero, since each atom possesses a stable octet and will not accept an electron readily. Elements of other groups have low electron affinities.

Electronegativity
Electronegativity is a measure of the attraction of an atom for the electrons in a chemical bond. The higher the electronegativity of an atom, the greater its attraction for bonding electrons. Electronegativity is related to ionization energy. Electrons with low ionization energies have low electronegativities because their nuclei do not exert a strong attractive force on electrons. Elements with high ionization energies have high electronegativities due to the strong pull exerted on electrons by the nucleus. In a group, the electronegativity decreases as atomic number increases, as a result of increased distance between the valence electron and nucleus (greater atomic radius). An example of an electropositive (i.e., low electronegativity) element is cesium; an example of a highly electronegative element is fluorine.

PERIODIC LAW In chemistry, law stating that many of the physical and chemical properties of the elements tend to recur in a systematic manner with increasing atomic number. Progressing from the lightest to the heaviest atoms, certain properties of the elements approximate those of precursors at regular intervals of 2, 8, 18, and 32. For example, the 2d element (helium) is similar in its chemical behavior to the 10th (neon), as well as to the 18th (argon), the 36th (krypton), the 54th (xenon), and the 86th (radon). The chemical family called the halogens, composed of elements 9 (fluorine), 17 (chlorine), 35 (bromine), 53 (iodine), and 85 (astatine), is an extremely reactive family.

Proper heating of glass tubing or glass rods in order to bend it:

Remember NOT to hand the red-hot glass rod to another person, especially the teacher.

Proper way of Cutting Glass Tube

Glass tubing is sold in a variety of lengths. Typical lengths are 6" (~150 mm), 12" (~300 mm) and by the foot. There is a good chance you'll need to cut the tubing to make it the right size for your project or experiment, so here is what to do. 1. Use the edge of a steel file to score or notch the glass perpendicular to its length. A single score works best. If you saw back and forth, you're asking for a messy break. Also, a light score works better than a deep cut. 2. Put on eye protection and heavy gloves. If you don't have gloves, you can minimize a chance of being cut by wrapping the tubing in a towel. 3. Place your thumbs on either side of the notch and apply gentle pressure until the tubing snaps in two. 4. The ends of the tubing will be extremely sharp, so you'll need to fire polish them before using the tubing. Fire polish the tubing by holding the sharp ends of the glass in the flame of an alcohol lamp or gas burning. Turn the tubing so that it is heated evenly. Stop when the ends are smooth. Be careful that you don't leave the glass in the flame too long, which melts the tubing and may block the ends. 5. Allow the glass tubing to cool before using it.

Importance of Glass Blowing

Glassblowing is the art of creating glass sculptures by manipulating molten glass. Glassblowing was first developed in the Middle East around 300 BC. Since then, glass-blown products have become indispensable to daily life, as well as to scientific innovation, and glassblowing has emerged as a major art form. There are two types of glassblowing: lampworking, which is done with a blowtorch, and off-hand, which works glass on the end of a hollow tube.