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why do we classify elements?

The need to classiffy elements into families with similar properties arose because, lacking this basic tool, the chemist had to deal with each of the 45 or so known elements one at a time, as if there were no rhyme or reason to them...which made things very difficult.

But there were similarities, and so elements began to be grouped into families with similar properties.
This allowed chemists to predict the properties of elements which had not been discovered...about half the periodic table, based upon our current knowledge of the natural elements..

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Classifying elements can help us to better understand the interrelationships between the physical and chemical properties of the substances and the nuclear structure of the orbiting electrons and shells. Once classified, scientists were able to assume similarities in properties as-yet unmeasured. The nuclear mechanisms behind these properties are very similar for elements in a certain class. For example, elements classified as metals have extra electrons which become mobile across atoms, facilitating high electrical and thermal conductivity. We can then group our understanding and study the similarities and differences within and across the elemental classes.

 

 

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There r 114 elements& each element forms a large number of compounds.It is,therefore,necessary to understand the basis of their properties &the rules according to which these react.This is possible if the elements are classified and grouped together based on their properties of both metals amd non-metals.

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