How did Dmitri Mendeleev get the idea for the periodic table?
Studying chemistry will teach students several things, including the value of flash cards. Oddly enough, that’s exactly how Dr. Dmitri Mendeleev arrived at what is now known as the periodic table–using those long-tested tools of learning.Note CardsOne evening in 1869, while writing his chemistry textbook, professor Mendeleev sorted through his stack of note cards. Written on each card was the element, its atomic number and other atomic properties.DiscoverySeeing a pattern, professor Mendeleev realized that as elements increased in atomic mass, other atomic values remained constant over certain intervals.PatternActing on this periodicity, he began arranging the elements in rows of increasing atomic number. If an element contained properties already present in another element, he would begin a new row. In this way, elements that had like properties existed in the same column.GeniusAs his table evolved, blank spots appeared in many locations. This makes sense now, as many elements remain
