• Question: why is there a periodic table.

    Asked by lottie to Joe, Jos, Kate, Lisa, Pierre on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Kate Dobson

      Kate Dobson answered on 18 Nov 2014:


      the elements exist…. the periodic table is our way of categorising them but their mass and other properties. It means we can predict what an element will do without having to do all the tests again.

    • Photo: Pierre Lasorak

      Pierre Lasorak answered on 18 Nov 2014:


      Hi
      As Kate said, there is a periodic table because we found out that some properties of elements get “repeated” as the number of electrons around the atom increases… So, at least at the beginning of the table, every 8 electrons you add, you get a very stable atom, in the sense that it doesn’t interact so much, these are called noble gases (Helium, Neon, Argon, then it gets more complicated). Similar repetitions happen if you start from something else. So people actually predicted some properties for heavier atoms before they were discovered!

    • Photo: Lisa Simmons

      Lisa Simmons answered on 19 Nov 2014:


      We need a periodic table to put all the elements in a sensible order, so we can predict how they will behave in different reactions. It helps us to understand how the structure of an element is related to its properties.

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