The Development of the Periodic Table

Chemistry

This document outlines the historical development of the periodic table, highlighting the contributions of various scientists from the discovery of individual elements to the modern understanding of atomic structure and its influence on chemical properties. It details key milestones such as the Law of Triads, the Law of Octaves, and the independent work of Lothar Meyer and Dmitri Mendeleev, ultimately leading to the periodic table as we know it today and its explanation through atomic number and electronic structure.

Periodic Table History of Science Elements

20 Questions Medium Ages 12+ Mar 19, 2026

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About this Study Set

This study set covers Chemistry through 20 practice questions. This document outlines the historical development of the periodic table, highlighting the contributions of various scientists from the discovery of individual elements to the modern understanding of atomic structure and its influence on chemical properties. It details key milestones such as the Law of Triads, the Law of Octaves, and the independent work of Lothar Meyer and Dmitri Mendeleev, ultimately leading to the periodic table as we know it today and its explanation through atomic number and electronic structure. Every question includes the correct answer so you can learn as you go — pick any format above to get started.

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Browse all 20 questions from the The Development of the Periodic Table study set below. Each question shows the correct answer — select a study format above to practice interactively.

1 Who is often considered the "father" of the periodic table?

A Hennig Brand
B Johann Dobereiner
C Dmitri Mendeleev
D John Newlands

2 What was a necessary prerequisite to the construction of the periodic table?

A The discovery of noble gases
B The discovery of individual elements
C The understanding of nuclear charge
D The development of atomic weights

3 When was the first scientific discovery of an element?

A 1649
B 1817
C 1869
D 1790

4 Who discovered phosphorous in 1649?

A Dmitri Mendeleev
B Hennig Brand
C Johann Dobereiner
D A.E.Beguyer de Chancourtois

5 By 1869, how many elements had been discovered?

A 56
B 63
C 11
D 17

6 Johann Dobereiner noticed that the atomic weight of strontium fell midway between the weights of which two elements?

A Lithium and potassium
B Chlorine and iodine
C Calcium and barium
D Oxygen and sulfur

7 What did Johann Dobereiner propose in his "Law of Triads"?

A Elements arranged in groups of eight share similar properties.
B The properties of elements are the properties of numbers.
C The middle element in a triad has properties that are an average of the other two.
D Noble gases have a valency of zero.

8 Which of these scientists is NOT mentioned as contributing to the understanding of chemical relationships beyond triads?

A Jean Baptiste Dumas
B Leopold Gmelin
C Ernst Lenssen
D Niels Bohr

9 Who is credited with publishing the first periodic table in 1862?

A Dmitri Mendeleev
B Lothar Meyer
C A.E.Beguyer de Chancourtois
D John Newlands

10 De Chancourtois arranged elements on a cylinder in terms of increasing atomic weight. What did he observe about closely related elements?

A They were arranged horizontally.
B They were lined up vertically.
C They were placed at the ends of the cylinder.
D They were grouped by color.

11 De Chancourtois was the first to recognize that elemental properties reoccur every how many elements?

A Six
B Seven
C Eight
D Ten

12 John Newlands proposed the "Law of Octaves" by analogy with what?

A The musical scale
B The colors of the rainbow
C The phases of the moon
D The seasons of the year

13 According to Newlands' Law of Octaves, any given element will exhibit analogous behavior to which element following it in the table?

A The seventh
B The eighth
C The ninth
D The element with similar atomic weight

14 Which two chemists produced remarkably similar results for the periodic table independently and around the same time?

A Mendeleev and Newlands
B Meyer and Dobereiner
C Mendeleev and Meyer
D De Chancourtois and Mendeleev

15 Why did Mendeleev's table become available to the scientific community before Meyer's?

A Meyer's work was incomplete.
B Mendeleev published his table first.
C Meyer's colleague lost the manuscript.
D Mendeleev had more funding.

16 Dmitri Mendeleev was born in which country?

A Germany
B France
C England
D Russia

17 Mendeleev organized his textbook, "Principles of Chemistry," in terms of what?

A Atomic number
B Families of known elements with similar properties
C Alphabetical order
D Discovering scientist

18 How did Mendeleev arrange the cards for each element to form the periodic table?

A By color and density
B In order of ascending atomic weight, grouping similar properties
C By the number of neutrons
D Alphabetically

19 What was a significant advantage of Mendeleev's table over previous attempts?

A It included only metals.
B It showed similarities in an entire network of relationships.
C It was based solely on atomic number.
D It predicted the properties of only one new element.

20 Mendeleev reordered elements despite their accepted masses because of what?

A Inaccurate experimentally determined atomic masses
B Personal preference
C A desire to place all metals together
D The influence of his father

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