Gaps were left in Mendeleev’s Periodic Table to allow for the di...
Mendeleev himself added these elements to the periodic chart in 1902 as group 0 elements, without altering the fundamental principle of the periodic table in the process. Alfred Werner, a Swiss chemist, was the first to solve the dead zone of Mendeleev’s table, which was discovered in 1905. He came to the conclusion that the rare-earth elements (lanthanides), of which there were 13 known, were contained within that gap.
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Gaps were left in Mendeleev’s Periodic Table to allow for the di...
Dmitri Mendeleev, the Russian chemist who is credited with creating the periodic table, did leave some gaps in his initial version of the table. These gaps were intentional and were based on his predictions of undiscovered elements that would fit into those positions.
Mendeleev organized the known elements based on their atomic weights and chemical properties, and he noticed that certain groups of elements had similar properties. He realized that there were spaces in his table where elements should exist but had not yet been discovered.
One notable example is the gap Mendeleev left for an element with an atomic weight of 72. He predicted that this element would have properties similar to titanium and zirconium. In 1875, 15 years after Mendeleev published his table, the element germanium was discovered, which fit perfectly into this predicted gap.
Another example is the gap for an element with an atomic weight of 101. Mendeleev predicted that this element would have properties similar to iodine. It wasn't until 1957 that the element named mendelevium (Md) was discovered, fulfilling Mendeleev's prediction.
These gaps in Mendeleev's periodic table demonstrated his ability to accurately predict the existence and properties of yet-to-be-discovered elements. They also highlighted the power and usefulness of his periodic table as a tool for organizing and understanding the elements.