Purpose of the Periodic Table
- One major purpose of the periodic table is to organize the elements based on increasing atomic number.
- The periodic table is also able to group elements together based on similar properties. Elements in the same column generally behave similarly in chemical reactions.
- Most periodic tables have important information about each element, such as its atomic mass, which can then be used to calculate the number of atoms in a sample.
- Elements can be classified as metals, nonmetals or metallic, based on their location in the periodic table.
- The periodic table is also able to show what is the highest amount of energy an electron can have in an atom based on which row the atom is in.