who discovered modern periodic table
Dmitri Mendeleev is widely credited as the discoverer (or creator) of the modern periodic table, based on his 1869 arrangement of the elements.
Quick Scoop: Who âdiscoveredâ the modern periodic table?
If youâre asking âwho discovered modern periodic tableâ , the standard schoolâlevel answer is:
- Dmitri Mendeleev (Russian chemist, 1834â1907) is regarded as the main discoverer/creator of the periodic table because:
- In 1869 he arranged known elements in a table by increasing atomic weight and recurring chemical properties.
* He **left gaps** for elements not yet discovered and even **predicted their properties** (like âekaâaluminium,â later found as gallium).
* When those predicted elements (gallium, scandium, germanium) were discovered with properties close to his predictions, his table gained broad acceptance.
Because of this, heâs often called the âfather of the periodic table,â and element 101 was named mendelevium (Md) in his honor.
But what about the modern periodic table?
Thereâs a bit of nuance in the phrase âmodern periodic tableâ :
- Mendeleevâs contribution
- Gave the first really successful periodic table based on atomic mass and repeating chemical properties.
* Conceptually, this is the foundation of what we still use today.
- Henry Moseleyâs refinement
- In 1913, Henry Moseley showed that elements are better ordered by atomic number (number of protons), not atomic mass.
* This led to the **modern periodic law** : properties of elements are a periodic function of their atomic number.
* Many educational sources therefore say the **modern periodic law and modern periodic table were âgivenâ or âinventedâ by Moseley** , even though the tableâs original framework is Mendeleevâs.
So depending on how exam or textbook writers phrase it:
- âWho discovered the periodic table?â â Dmitri Mendeleev.
- âWho gave the modern periodic law/modern periodic table (based on atomic number)?â â often Henry Moseley.
Other names you might see (but not as âdiscovererâ)
You might see these scientists in the story, but they are not typically the oneâline answer to your question:
- Johann DĂśbereiner â grouped elements into triads (early patternâspotting).
- John Newlands â proposed the law of octaves (repeating pattern every eight elements).
- Lothar Meyer â independently produced a table very similar to Mendeleevâs and is sometimes called a coâcreator, but Mendeleevâs predictive success is why heâs more famous.
If youâre answering an exam question
For a typical school/competitiveâexam style question:
- If the question is exactly like your post: âWho discovered modern periodic table?â
- Safest short answer: Dmitri Mendeleev (this is the commonly accepted exam key in many curricula).
- If the question explicitly says âmodern periodic lawâ or stresses âbased on atomic numberâ :
- Answer: Henry Moseley.
TL;DR:
The person most widely credited with discovering the modern periodic table is
Dmitri Mendeleev , while Henry Moseley later gave the modern
atomicânumberâbased form of the table.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.