2006-12-27 13:16:51 · 2 answers · asked by Esha 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Humans like to classify things into related categories, as it helps us to understand and remember.
Metals were grouped according to their reactivity with acids, water, etc. There seemed to be 'periodicity', ie. a pattern, that metals made, so the metals were grouped accordingly. This gives us a periodic table that can be used, rather than a bunch of elements randomly placed that don't impart relatedness.
See http://www.chemtutor.com/perich.htm#pps for a brief description and see a fun history at http://web.fccj.org/~ethall/period/period.htm
2006-12-27 14:50:07 · answer #1 · answered by teachbio 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Theres not really an answer for that. Just that a long time ago a group of scientist thought that it would be beneifical to the world to classsify them according to there properties. Their properties have something to do with their valence electrons
2006-12-27 21:35:55 · answer #2 · answered by n_hall_22 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋