Why are there no missing elements (#s) on the periodic table?

Answer 1

All of the so-called "natural" elements (the ones found in nature in measureable amounts), from hydrogen to uranium, were discovered before the beginning of the 20th century.

However, when the periodic table as we know it was created by the Russian chemist Mendeleev, there were 3 missing elements. The elements' properties were deduced from their relative positions on the table. It was not until years later that the missing elements were discovered. And the properties were exactly those predicted by this guy..

Answer 2

Technetium (element 43) would have been missing, but we made some of our own. Also, all the elements above atomic number 92 are purely synthetic.
I think the answer is that, since we invented the periodic table, we were able to see when we were missing elements; then we went to find them because those holes in the table are unsightly. So now the table is filled up, and the only "holes" are in the direction of heavier synthetic elements--which tend to be unstable.

Answer 3

I agree with Ken, above. The elements are arranged in the periodic table according to how many protons are in the nucleus. Originally, there was no such thing as a periodic table. Then, as more atoms began to be discovered, some smarty (I dunno who) thought it might be a good thing to classify them as to their weight, and the number of atoms in their core. Originally, there were some empty spaces; in other words, scientists knew that there must be some element somewhere with that number of protons in its core; they just hadn't found or named it yet. Gradually, as time progressed, more and more were discovered. Then they reached the limit of naturally occurring elements. "Well," thought they. "I wonder if we could make more elements by bombarding the nucleoli of the most dense elements with protons, and making it even heavier". They tried it, and it worked.
I don't know what the most dense naturally occurring element is. I do remember that when I was in college, the heaviest element in existence was Lawrencium, (Number 103). It existed in the lab only, and existed for only a few microseconds before it degenerated into something else.
OK, now somebody tell me that I'm wrong. I'm a big boy. I can take it.

Answer 4

When the periodic chart was first figured out there were gaps. One example is Germanium.

People went looking for the missing elements. Since elements that are close to one another on the table have similar properties, people could figure out kinda what properties the missing elements had, which was a big clue about where to look.

More info (click on the links for details):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendeleev%27s_predicted_elements

Answer 5

The numbers signify the number of protons the atom has, so as people found atoms with those number of protons, they filled it in. With the ones that couldn't be found, they created them in a lab. All it took was time, which we apparently had plenty of.

Your question basically breaks down to...why aren't there missing numbers when I count to 100 or whatever number.

The next question would be why does it only go to two hundred and whatever. You could say that the "missing numbers" are the elements that haven't been created at the end yet.

Answer 6

Why should there be missing pieces? It's like a big jig saw puzzle and humans figured out how the pieces fit to gether a few hundred years ago and have since found all the pieces scattered around our planet and solar system. they just fall into place just like our ancestors predicted.

Answer 7

Because the elements are arranged by the number of protons incraseing from left to right and top to bottom.

Answer 8

because they built the table as the elements came to be known....

Answer 9

cuz al hve been found. except few..but if dey existed did wud hve been detected by now. so i think dey r no missing elements.

Answer 10

they know all the protons and elcetrons and neutrons. there could be more to discover. like the ones at the end