3.3 Modern Periodic Law and the Present Form of the Periodic Table

• We must bear in mind that when Mendeleev developed his Periodic Table, chemists knew nothing about the internal structure of atom. However, the beginning of the \(20^{\text {th }}\) century witnessed profound developments in theories about sub-atomic particles. In 1913, the English physicist, Henry Moseley observed regularities in the characteristic \(X\)-ray spectra of the elements.
• A plot of \(\sqrt{f}\) (where \(f\) is the frequency of \(X\)-rays emitted) against atomic number \((Z)\) gave a straight line and not the plot of \(\sqrt{f}\) 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 94 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.
• We know that the atomic number is equal to the nuclear charge (i.e., the 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.
• A modern version, the so-called “long form” of the Periodic Table of the elements (Fig. 3.2), 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 the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the groups are numbered from 1 to 18 replacing the older notation of groups IA … VIIA, VIII, IB …. VIIB and 0.
• 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 2 elements. The subsequent periods consists of \(8,8,18,18\) and 32 elements, respectively. The seventh period is incomplete and like the sixth period would have a theoretical maximum (on the basis of quantum numbers) of 32 elements. In this form of the Periodic Table, 14 elements of both the sixth and seventh periods (lanthanoids and actinoids, respectively) are placed in separate panels at the bottom.

* Glenn T. Seaborg’s work in the middle of the 20th century starting with the discovery of plutonium in 1940, followed by those of all the transuranium elements from 94 to 102 led to the reconfiguration of the periodic table placing the actinoids below the lanthanoids. In 1951, Seaborg was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work. Element 106 has been named Seaborgium \((S g)\) in his honour.