Activity 19.1.3 – Discovering family similarities Dimitri
Mendeleev, a Russian chemist, created the first version of the
Periodic Table of the Elements (figure 19.3) in 1869. When he
ordered the elements according to increasing atomic weight in
columns so that rows contained analogous elements, he saw
patterns that allowed him to predict the properties of elements
yet to be discovered. Mendeleev’s task was formidable because
there was relatively little data to work with, and no electronic
tools to organize it. Today, however, we have an abundance of
information as well as database tools that allow us to instantly
group data by common characteristics. Database technology has
fueled the Information Revolution by allowing us to store and
examine large amounts of data. In this activity you will use a
database program to separate data by groups and summarize your
findings. Table 19.2 (see book) arranges the elements in terms
of increasing atomic number. No patterns or trends are seen when
the elements are displaye