Why do we need to classify elements?

What are Elements?

An element is a substance which is made up of only 1 type of atoms

In easy language

Atoms of different types are called Elements

Example

Copper, Carbon, Helium, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Sodium, Potassium, Iron are all elements

How are elements different from compounds?

• An element is a substance which is made up of only 1 type of atoms
• A group of atoms chemically bonded together and is electrically neutral is called Molecule
  Molecules that contain more than 1 type of element , which are chemically combined in fixed proportion by mass are called Compounds.

Example

1. H ₂ contains 2 atoms of Hydrogen . H 2 is the chemical formula of Hydrogen gas
2. H ₂ O contains 2 atoms of Hydrogen chemically combined with 1 atom of Oxygen
3. CH ₄ contains 4 atoms of Hydrogen chemically combined with 1 atom of Carbon.

Need for classification

• At present 118 elements are known to us
• All these elements have different properties
• In these elements, only 98 are naturally occurring
• In order to study the properties of these elements, classifying them became very important. 
• It also becomes easy to study the group of elements instead of analysing each element separately to understand its properties.

What is periodic classification of elements?

• It means dividing elements into different groups in such a way that each group has similar properties
• It refers to grouping similar types of elements.

What are Different Classifications done for elements

Different classifications were done by different scientists over the years.

Let's study each of these one by one.