Period 1 element Period 1 element A period 1 element is one of the chemical elements in the first row (or period) of the periodic table of the chemical elements. The periodic table is laid out in rows to illustrate periodic (recurring) trends in the chemical behaviour of the elements as their atomic number increases: a new row is begun when chemical behaviour begins to repeat, meaning that elements with similar behaviour fall into the same vertical columns. The first period contains fewer elements than any other row in the table, with only two: hydrogen and helium. This situation can be explained by
History of the periodic table the Periodic Law for the chemical elements". He contributed the word 'periodic' in chemistry. The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev was the first scientist to make a periodic table similar to the one used today. Mendeleev arranged the elements by atomic mass, corresponding to relative molar mass. It is sometimes said that he played 'chemical solitaire' on long train journeys, using cards with various facts about the known elements. On March 6, 1869, Mendeleev gave a formal presentation, "The Dependence Between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements", to the Russian Chemical Society. In 1869, the table was published