56 Periodic Table Facts For All The Chemistry Nerds Out There

Do you know that the arrangement of a periodic table was inspired by a game of cards?

There are many elements that are arranged in a way of their chemical behaviors and atomic weights which reflect individual characteristics of the chemical elements.

Many periodic table facts are studied by students and people interested in chemistry. Be it the atomic number, atomic radius, or atomic weights, understanding the properties of chemical elements is extremely important for every science student.

This is where the periodic table of elements comes to the rescue, where you can check all the essential details related to different elements like noble gases or alkali metals.

Here are some periodic table fun facts that will blow your mind.

Characteristics Of The Periodic Table

If you move from the left side of the periodic table towards the right, so moving in a horizontal left to the right row of the periodic table, there are certain variations within the properties of the elements included in a periodic table.

The properties include valency, size of atom, metallic character, and a number of valence electrons. Valence electrons are nothing but the number of electrons with the elements, which increases from one to eight as we move forward the periodic table from left to right.

In the first period, the valence of electrons increases from one to two, and so on. Sodium comprises one valence electron in the third period and the element argon contains eight.

The first element of every period has one valence electron and the last element has eight electrons. The only exception is helium, which has two valence electrons in the first period because of its gaseous state. Isn't that a smart arrangement of elements? Along with the valence electrons, the atomic numbers of the elements are also consecutive.

Thus, elements from sodium to argon in the third period have atomic numbers that range between 11 to 18. The third characteristic of the periodic table is the metallic character of elements. As you move from left to right, the metallic character decreases, whereas the non-metallic character of elements increases.

Different Elements In The Periodic Table

There are a variety of elements arranged in a periodic table. They are categorized into nine types of periodic table groups. The first type is the transition elements. The properties of these chemical element are similar to that of transition metals.

These elements are good conductors of heat and electricity. They have high melting points and hence can be malleable, meaning they can be converted into different shapes and have high densities. The next type is a noble gas.

They are stable because they don't react and are located in period zero. They have full outer shells. The next category is that of halogens, which are found in group seven. There are seven electrons in the outer shell of these elements. This makes them highly unstable and very reactive.

Halogens need only one more electron to complete the capacity of their computer shell. Metals are the next type that is placed on the left-hand side.

The properties of these elements are commonly found in metals. These elements are conductors of heat and electricity, solid in-state, ductile, and have higher malleability. The elements that are neither metals nor nonmetals are called metalloids or semimetals.

They possess both characteristics and are found beneath the border. Nonmetals are found on the right-hand side.

They are poor conductors of heat and electricity and are brittle. The next category is alkali substances that are soft metals in group one. They are aggressive reactors as they have one extra electron in their outer shell and getting rid of that will give them a full outer shell.

Alkali elements have low density and, hence, low melting points as well. Lanthanides are also a category of elements that are found in a separate box of the main periodic table. They are soft and silver in color. They are highly reactive to oxygen and form an oxide coating on the surface of the substance they react with.

Lanthanides are also radioactive elements. Similarly, actinides are also a separate part of the table. They too have a soft structure and silver color.

The First Periodic Table

A well-known mathematician and scientist, Ampere had also attempted to arrange the elements in a periodic table although his name is lost in the history of chemistry. However, the first periodic table was created by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.

There were many versions of the periodic table, but the version created by Mendeleev was the most developed and sophisticated arrangement.

It was the system that had the most impact on the scientific world and researchers. Later on, the discovery of more elements was added and a modern periodic table was developed with varying chemical behaviors.

Cool Facts About Periodic Table

The main difference in the arrangement of the elements in a modern periodic table and Mendeleev's periodic table is that the former has arranged the elements in the order of their increasing atomic number. Mendeleev arranged the elements in the order of their ascending atomic weight.

But still, the entire arrangement is almost the same with a few exceptions. There was an artificially added element named technetium.

It's the lightest element and has only radioactive isotopes of which all are unstable. An interesting and lesser-known fact is that Dmitri Mendeleev was fond of playing cards.

He used to write the weight of each element with a separate index card and sort them as they would be arranged while playing Solitaire. Thus elements that have the same properties and characteristics were treated as a ‘suit’ and were kept in a separate column. This column was arranged in ascending order of their atomic weight.