Fundamentering van het Periodiek Systeem der Elementen

Abstract

SUMMARY: Foundations of the periodic system of the elements. The period 1816-1821 in history of chemistry has primarily been of great interest because of the foundations of the periodic system of the elements, which in the sixties of the last century would prove to become such a firm basis to inorganic chemistry. In this half a decade Döbereiner found the first triad of elements. Berzelius started with his accurate atomic weight determinations of the elements, and Dulong and Petit formulated their law on the constancy of the atomic heat of the elements, and Mitscherlich his law on isomorphism. Without these discoveries and investigations it should not have been possible to find the periodic system of the elements. The hypothesis on the prima materia, set up by Prout in 1816, really exercised only an indirect influence. As to the hypothesis of Avogadro, which Ampère, in 1816, formulated independently of him, its great essentialness was understood only several decades later.