Period (periodic table) across periods. Seven periods of elements occur naturally on Earth. For period 8, which includes elements which may be synthesized after 2016, see the extended periodic table. A group in chemistry means a family of objects with similarities like different families. There are 7 periods, going horizontally across the periodic table. The first period contains the least elements than any other, with only two, hydrogen and helium. They therefore do not follow the octet rule. Chemically, helium behaves like a noble gas, and thus is taken to be part of the group 18 elements. However, in terms of its nuclear
Extended periodic table and discovered that some elements indeed had different properties that break the established pattern, and a 2010 calculation by Pekka Pyykkö also noted that several elements might behave differently than expected. It is unknown how far the periodic table might extend beyond the known 118 elements, as heavier elements are predicted to be increasingly unstable. Glenn T. Seaborg suggested that the highest possible element may be under "Z" = 130, while Walter Greiner predicted that there may not be a highest possible element. There is currently no consensus on the placement of elements beyond atomic number 120 in the periodic