http://www.ck12.org Chapter 6. The Periodic Table
CHAPTER
6 The Periodic Table
Chapter Outline
6.1 History of the Periodic Table
6.2 ELECTRONCONFIGURATION AND THEPERIODICTABLE
6.3 TRENDS IN THEPERIODICTABLE
6.4 REFERENCES
Humans have had a strong interest in classifying and working with matter throughout recorded history. Many of
the elements that we are familiar with today have been known since ancient times, such as gold (aurum), silver
(argentum), potassium (kalium), sodium (natrium), lead (plumbum), and copper (cuprium). An element’s reactivity,
solubility, flame color, compound formation, and luster are just a few of the various characteristics that people have
studied and attempted to categorize. We can use our knowledge of atomic number and atomic weight in conjunction
with these characteristics to arrange the elements systematically. In fact, this was how the first versions of the
periodic table were created in the mid-1800s. Our modern day periodic table, pictured above, is an evolution of
these earlier works. In this chapter, we will be studying how the periodic table of elements is organized and how it
can be used to predict certain properties about a given element.
Christo pher Auyeung.CK− 12 Foundation.CC BY−NC 3. 0.