• Question: what is the periodic table?

    Asked by 856bsmf29 to Elliot on 23 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Elliot Jokl

      Elliot Jokl answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      Thanks for the question!

      The periodic table is basically a list of all the chemical elements that have been discovered, in order of their atomic number (that is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom)

      It is also organised so that elements with similar properties can be found close to each other, eg one of the columns contains all the noble gases like Neon, Xenon and Krypton (sadly, not the superman stuff).

      It was first put together by a scientist called Dimitri Mendeleev, and people have added new elements to it when they have been discovered.

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