The periodic table
GRADE 8
1. What is an atom?
2. Describe the structure of the atom?
3. Are all atoms the same? Explain
4. What is an element?
5. Rutherford’s atomic model?
6. What is the periodic table?
John Dalton and atomic weights
• John Dalton, the English chemist who constructed the atomic theory,
also tried to put the elements in order.
• He measured the masses of the elements he collected when he broke
up compounds.
• At the time, the term ‘mass’ was not used. The terms ‘weight’ and
‘atomic weight’ were used instead.
• He used Hydrogen to compare weights of other elements
• However: other scientists discovered that the weight of oxygen
produced when water is split is eight times greater than the weight of
hydrogen. This lead to the conclusion that water consists of 2 hydrogen
atoms and 1 oxygen with the atomic weight of oxygen as 16.
• He used balance scale to measure weight but they were inaccurate.
Because the apparatus had to be manually adjusted.
• Used symbols in chemistry, he drew circles to represent elements.
Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner
• Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner divided elements in
groups of 3 based on their similar atomic weights
and properties
• 3 groups called Dobereiner’s triads
• Lithium, sodium and potassium
• Calcium, strontium and barium
• Chlorine, bromine and iodine
John Newlands
• John Newlands looked for patterns in the
properties of elements and it appeared
periodically that were 8 places apart.
• He named them according to their atomic
weights starting from the lowest to the
highest i.e. Lithium to Calcium
• Neon was inserted between fluorine and
sodium and argon between sodium and
potassium
Dmitri Mendeleev
• Dmitri Mendeleev discovered atoms joined with one or
more atoms.
• When he looked at the properties of the elements as they
were arranged– one below the other in columns in the
table, he noticed that they not only combined with the
same number of atoms, but also had similar properties.
• As he looked along the rows in his table, he could see that
the ability of the elements to join with atoms and the
properties they possessed changed periodically, and this
led to the table being named the periodic table.
• He left gaps in the table for new elements but scientists
did not approve of this as this was considered cheating.
• These gaps were later filled when new elements were
discovered
Periodic table and
atomic number
• Today’s modern periodic
table uses atomic number
Little Berry Boy Could Not Operate Fan (Neon)
Naughty Maggie Always Sings Poems and Songs Clearly (Argon)
Group 1 (Alkali metals)
• Columns are groups and rows are periods
• Groups have similar properties
• Group 1 are alkali metals
• Chemical properties (when added to water)
• Lithium fizzles as it floats on water- Metal hydroxide is produced and H2 escapes
• Sodium fizzles more strongly- Metal hydroxide is produced and H2 escapes
• Potassium bursts into flames - H2 burns in air and heat is produced
• Because metal hydroxide is produced and hydrogen escapes
• Alkali metals burn in air to give solid metal oxides and they strongly react with
group 7 halogens to give halides
Group 2 (Alkaline Earth Metals)
• Immediately after Group 1 elements
• They lose two electrons
• Not as reactive as Group 1 but more reactive
than Group 3
• Reactivity increases from top to bottom
• E.g.: Be, Mg, Ca
• The arrangement of elements in the periodic table is based on their atomic
structure.
• The atomic structure and the number of electrons in the outer orbit explains the
properties of an element
• Elements in the same group have similar physical and chemical properties
• Over time, different individuals used their scientific understanding of different
elements to see if there was a way to organise them based on their properties,
and this developed into the periodic table we use today.
Links
• Modern periodic table
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdS9roW7IzM
• Group 1 alkali metals
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZGDUKQa_6g
• Alkali metals reacting with water
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI__JY7pqOM
Sample checkpoint question
