History of the Periodic Table

History of the Periodic Table

1.The History of the Periodic Table started with a man named Dalton. Dalton believed that each element had to be made of its own unique combination. This belief struck on the foundations of the modern atomic theory. Dalton believed that each atom has a unique weight and he was the first to attempt to create order between the elements. Even though his ideas were dismissed by scientists at the time, Dalton was the first person to try and create a pattern between elements and compose them into a uniform table. One of the few scientists that believed Daltons theories that each element had their own weight was Bezalius. Bezalius believed that knowing the weight of an atom was very important in creating a uniform table. Bezalius set out to find the weight of every known element of the time and the numbers he predicted were surprisingly accurate. Berzalius found the relative weights of 45 compounds and he discovered the element silicon. Berzalius' work was extrememly helpful in trying to make a uniform table. Dobereiner also had a significant role in completing a uniform table. Dobereiner believed that an elements chemical properties and reactions were very important to finding patterns within elements. Dobereiner created triads, which were like element families. These triads helped in the placement of the elements in the periodic table. Cannizaro was also had a significant role because he believed that equal numbers of gases contained equal number of molecules. This belief set the standard for other scientists because it allowed scientists to all have the same atomic weights for each element. Newlands contributed to the creation of a periodic table because he created the "Law of Octaves" and he found that every 8th element behaves in similar ways. This also contributed to the periodic table because scientists now knew which elements were similar or different. The biggest contributor to the creation of the periodic table was Mendeleev. Mendeleev was the first person to create a close to accurate representation of the periodic table. Eventhough all the elements hadnt been discovered, Mendeleev was able to successfully create a close to accurate placement of the known elements. It is said that Mendeleev worked for three days without sleep on the periodic table and once he finally slept, he had a dream telling him where the elements should be placed. The last scientist to contribute to the periodic table was Moseley. Moseley built off of Menedeleevs arrangment but he arranged the elements according to atomic number because of the discovery of the proton.
2. I believe that Dalton is the most interesting because he based his theories strictly off of imagination. Dalton struck on the foundations of the modern atomic theory without any microscopes or equipment at all. Dalton was the first to attempt to create an order of the elements even though he had no proof of his hypothesis. Dalton believed that each element has his own unique weight and no one believed him. His hypothesis was the most insightful hypothesis until his time and no one believed him. His belief would eventually help scientists figure out how to correctly arrange the periodic table.