of vs atomic mass. He thereby showed that the atomic number is a more fundamental property of an element than its atomic mass. Mendeleev’s Periodic Law was, therefore, accordingly modified. This is known as the Modern Periodic Law and can be stated as : The physical and chemical properties of the elements are periodic functions of their atomic numbers.
The Periodic Law revealed important analogies among the naturally occurring elements (neptunium and plutonium like actinium and protoactinium are also found in pitch blende – an ore of uranium). It stimulated renewed interest in Inorganic Chemistry and has carried into the present with the creation of artificially produced short-lived elements. You may recall that the atomic number is equal to the nuclear charge ( i.e. , number of protons) or the number of electrons in a neutral atom.
It is then easy to visualize the significance of quantum numbers and electronic configurations in periodicity of elements. In fact, it is now recognized that the Periodic Law is essentially the consequence of the periodic variation in electronic configurations, which indeed determine the physical and chemical properties of elements and their compounds. Numerous forms of Periodic Table have been devised from time to time. Some forms emphasise chemical reactions and valence, whereas others stress the electronic configuration of elements.
A modern version, the so-called “ long form ” of the Periodic Table of the elements (Fig. . ), is the most convenient and widely used. The horizontal rows (which Mendeleev called series ) are called periods and the vertical columns, groups .
Elements having similar outer electronic configurations in their atoms are arranged in vertical columns, referred to as groups or families . According to the recommendation of International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the groups are numbered from to replacing the older notation of groups IA … VIIA, VIII, IB … VIIB and . There are altogether seven periods. The period number corresponds to the highest principal quantum number ( n ) of the elements in the period.
The first period contains elements. The subsequent periods consists