why do you suppose there is such a great discrepancy between the accuracy of predicted masses for these two triads?
2006-11-20 14:35:44 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
You are obviously talking about Dobereiner and his triads (eventhough you don't mention his name). This question is common in 1st year chemistry books.
The discrepancy comes from him averaging masses of the first and third elements in the triad to get the second element's mass. He did not know about the periodic table (Mendeleev came later in history) and he did not know about all of the elements found on Earth. His triads were groups of three elements which seemed to go together due to their properties, but the missing unknown elements caused his triads to be less than reliable.
2006-11-20 15:35:30 · answer #1 · answered by physandchemteach 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋