Question
a) Why did Mendeleev leave gaps in his periodic table? He was unsure on the order of some elements To make sure there were the same number of elements in each row To make sure there were the same number of elements in each column To allow elements with similar properties to line up in columns
Answer
4.1
(323 Votes)
Isolde
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
D
Explanation
When Dmitri Mendeleev created his version of the periodic table, he did so with particular attention to pattern and property similarities. He noted that when elements were arranged in order of increasing atomic weight, elements with similar physical and chemical properties occurred at regular intervals. Mendeleev came up against certain displacement anomalies about atomic weights when he organized them strictly in solids. He adopted the ground-breaking decision to leave spaces in order to keep element groups with similar characteristics together in the light of this. Therefore, he left the gaps, not because he was unsure about the order of some elements, not to make sure there were the same number of elements in each row or column, but to allow for better alignment of elements with similar properties (vertically, all the elements of a group Expected to have similar qualities). His predictive powers were so accurate that after subsequent discoverers are found, gaps are properly filled.