Secondary IV • 2yr.
Hello!
I was wondering, is there a particular order in the periodic table? Because from left to right and from top to bottom the number in the box starts from 1 and goes up, but does this number mean something or is it a reference number that has been set randomly? Thanks for your time :))
Explanation from Alloprof
This Explanation was submitted by a member of the Alloprof team.
Hello!
The number you are referring to is the atomic number. This number represents the number of protons present in an atom.
This number is characteristic of each atom; two different atoms cannot have the same number of protons!
In the periodic table, atoms are classified according to their atomic number. The table starts with hydrogen, which has 1 proton, which is followed by helium which has 2 protons, and so on.
Hope this may have enlightened your understanding! Don't hesitate to come back and ask questions 🙂