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Activity 1.1
You all must have been to a shopping mall or a grocery store near your house. Have you
observed how the items are stored in the shelves or counters? Is there a particular pattern in
which they are kept?
In your house, your mother often asks you to keep your books, clothes and other things in
order. How do you arrange them so that you can retrieve them easily when you require
them?
Go to your school library. Observe how the books are arranged. Ask your librarian whether
any particular method of classification is adopted.
You all know that matter can exist in the form of elements, compounds and mixtures. When
elements were discovered, scientists adopted different ways to classify them. In earlier days, very
few elements were known. At that time, they were classified as metals and non-metals on the
basis of their properties. Some elements showed properties of both metals and non-metals and
they could not be placed in any of the two classes. To overcome these difficulties, scientists tried
to find out some pattern or regularity in the properties of elements.
1.1 Dobereiners Triads
Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner, a German scientist (1780 1849) studied as a pharmacist at
Munchberg in Germany and then studied chemistry at Strasbourg. He later became professor of
chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Jena.
In 1829, he found some groups of three elements which showed similar properties. These
groups were called as triads. In these triads, atomic mass of the middle element was
approximately the mean of atomic masses of other two elements. Also these elements showed
similarities in properties. The table below shows four triads arranged vertically.
Table 1.1
Element Atomic Mass
Lithium (Li) 6.9
Sodium (Na) 23
Potassium (K) 39
Calcium (Ca) 40.1
Strontium (Sr) 87.6
Barium (Ba) 137.3
Chlorine (Cl) 35.5
Bromine (Br) 79.9
Iodine (I) 126.9
Sulphur (S) 32
Selenium (Se) 79
Tellurium (Te) 128
In the above table, take the triad of Lithium, Sodium and Potassium. The atomic mass of
Sodium (23) is the mean of the atomic masses of Lithium and Potassium.
Similarly, you can verify the atomic masses of Strontium, Bromine and Selenium from the
other triads.
The triads were known as Dobereiners triads.
Dobereiner could identify only some triads from the elements known. Other triads did not obey
Dobereiners rule. Hence the system of triads was not useful.
1.2 Newlands Octaves
British chemist Newlands
(1837 1898) was born in
London and studied at
Royal college of
chemistry. He set up a
practice as an analytical
chemist in 1864 and in
1868 became chief chemist
in a sugar refinery. Later
he left the refinery and
Newlands worked as an analyst.
After the failure of Dobereiners triads, the next attempt to classify elements was done by
Newlands. By this time 56 elements were discovered. Newlands arranged all these elements in
increasing order of their atomic masses. He found that every eighth element had properties
similar to that of the first. He compared this to the octave found in music. Therefore his
classification was known as Newlands Octaves.
Newlands law states that When the elements are arranged in an increasing order of
their atomic masses, the properties of the eighth element are similar to the first.
Table 1.2
H Li Be B C N O
F Na Mg Al Si P S
Cl K Ca Cr Ti Mn Fe
Some features of Newlands table
Newland could arrange elements only up to calcium out of total 56 elements known.
After calcium every eighth element did not posses properties similar to that of the first.
At the time of Newlands only 56 elements were known. But later several elements were
discovered.
In order to fit the existing elements Newland placed two elements in the same position
which differed in their properties.
This periodic table did not include inert (noble) gases because they were not discovered.
Activity 1.2
Identify Dobereiners triads in Newlands table. (Table 1.2) Answer
Mendeleevs Periodic Table
Dimitri Mendeleev, a
Russian chemist (1834 -
1907) was born at
Tobolsk, Siberia. He
studied science at St.
Petersburg and graduated
in 1856. In 1863, he was
appointed to a
professorship and in
1866 he succeeded to the
chair in the university.
Mendeleev
Mendeleev examined the relationship between the atomic masses of the elements and their
physical and chemical properties. Among chemical properties, he concentrated on the
compounds formed by the elements with oxygen and hydrogen as they were very reactive and
formed compounds with most elements. By analyzing these compounds, Mendeleev believed that
atomic mass of element was the most fundamental property in classifying the elements. He
arranged elements in the increasing order of their atomic masses and found that the chemical
and physical properties of elements showed repetition after certain intervals. He arranged
known elements in the increasing order of their atomic masses in the horizontal row still he
encountered an element which had properties similar to the first element. He placed this element
below first element and thus started the second row of elements. Proceeding in this manner, he
could arrange all known elements according to their properties and thus created the first
periodic table containing 63 elements known till then.
His law is known as Mendeleevs periodic law:
The physical and chemical properties of elements are a periodic function of their
atomic masses.
The tabular arrangement of the elements based on the periodic law is called the
Mendeleevs periodic table.
Additional Information:
Additional Information:
Elements in the modern periodic table are classified on the basis of their electronic
configuration. They are divided into four blocks: sblock, pblock, dblock and fblock.
Groups 1 and 2 are included in sblock. These elements contain 1 or 2 electrons in their
outermost shell. All these elements are metals.
Groups 13 to 17 and 0 group elements are included in pblock. They contain 3 to 8 electrons
in their outermost shell. Pblock contains all types of elements, i.e. metals, nonmetals and
metalloids.
Elements from sblock and pblock are called as normal elements. These elements have
outermost shell incomplete except 0 group elements.
0 group elements have completed outermost shell. They are called as inert elements or noble
elements. All these elements are gases.
Groups 3 to 12 are known as dblock elements. These elements have two outermost shells
incomplete. They are known as transition elements. All these elements are metals.
Elements present at the bottom of the periodic table, i.e. lanthanides and actinides are called
as f-block elements. They have three incomplete outermost shells. They are called as inner
transition elements. All these elements are metals.
Concept Map
Classification of elements
Additional Information: