Importance of the Periodic Table

Serena Cuoghi
Title of Professor of Biology

All known matter is composed of atoms and each of these, according to the particular characteristics of its sub-parts, has been classified as some type of element in particular, whose understanding of the way in which they behave has allowed us to establish: 1) the existing affinities between their electrons; 2) the physical properties based on its structure; and 3) the chemical properties by which they interact with each other. This accumulation of knowledge made possible the great advance that science has had in all its fields, due to the fact that, by studying the nature of the elements, one understands both their material essence and energetic.

The natural order of things

This classification of the most basic units of matter turned out to possess a naturally specific order, which facilitated Mendeleyev's work when seeking to design a model of organization and presentation of the existing chemical elements, with which to expedite the search for the necessary information and that, in turn, was understandable for all.

Such has been the effectiveness of this model, that it not only continues to be in force, but throughout almost a century and medium of use, the periodic table has been supplemented with the elements and their properties, as they have gone discovering.

reaction and integration

The organization of the elements in the periodic table allowed since its creation the logical deduction of the existence of many of the elements that had not yet been discovered. by that time, due to certain existing jumps between the present elements, thus guiding scientists towards the search for what should fill those gaps.

This sense of absence within the periodic table has served as a stimulus within scientific research, which puzzle is about to be completed, but of which there were still some pieces to be taken out of the box, becoming the starting point and the essential base for all kinds of chemical, physical and even biological, in which the matter and energy of the elements and substances are involved, thus making the periodic table the precursor theory of the potential development and discovery of all the substances that are known up to now, as well as those that still need to be determined or power be created.

From alchemy to reason

The fascinating history of chemistry is full of great feats and discoveries from its most ancient origins, but without a doubt, the construction of the periodic table forever marked the difference between the curious and unsatisfactory handling that had been done through intuitive alchemy, to which most had remained attached until then, giving way to an increasingly firm and accurate chemistry, through which the great advances were generated towards all the knowledge that is available up to now and the scientific and technology that we can enjoy, having even reached the point of being able to manipulate matter and its components, not only altering their state, but also creating modifications conscious towards its maximum use and, more recently, about the applicability of these towards the development of solutions to the chemical problems that humanity has generated with all its pollution.

The study promoted on the organization and utility of the periodic table that is intended through secondary education, despite often not being implemented in the most assertive way by teachers, it is actually a tool offered to students with the purpose of giving them the possibility of understanding that everything that exists in their own environment is capable of interact according to their own characteristics, creating an entire Universe full of possibilities in terms of how matter and energy are capable of existing and everything we can achieve through of them, making it more than necessary that this comprehension can be deeper and deeper, at an earlier age and with greater efficiency, to achieve a higher state of consciousness in the new generations, about the relevance of each of the elements present in the periodic table and how most are an essentially unnoticed part of our own lives and everything how much surrounds us

References

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Goya, P., Román, P., & Elguero, J. (2019). The periodic table of chemical elements. The books of the cataract.

Morrison, R. T., & Boyd, R. no. (1998). organic chemistry. Pearson education.

Solomons, T. G., & Fryhle, C. b. (1999). organic chemistry. Limousse.