5.2 The Modern Periodic Table

Figure 5 shows a synthesizer keyboard with labels for the notes that correspond to the white keys. If you strike the key labeled middle Cand then play the white keys in order from left to right, you will hear the familiar do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti scale. The next white note is a C that is an octave above middle C. An octave is the interval between any two notes with the same name. (The prefix octa- means “eight.”) Because the scale repeats at regular eight-note intervals, the scale is an example of a periodic pattern.

The sounds of musical notes that are separated by an octave are related, but they are not identical. In a similar way, elements in the same column of the periodic table are related because their properties repeat at regular intervals. But elements in different rows are not identical. You can use the modern periodic table of elements to classify elements and to compare their properties.

Figure 5 On this synthesizer keyboard, there is a repeating pattern of notes. The eight-note interval between any two notes with the same name is an octave. Observing How many octaves are visible on the keyboard?

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