Period (periodic table) Period (periodic table) A period in the periodic table is a horizontal row. All elements in a row have the same number of electron shells. Each next element in a period has one more proton and is less metallic than its predecessor. Arranged this way, groups of elements in the same column have similar chemical and physical properties, reflecting the periodic law. For example, the alkali metals lie in the first column (group 1) and share similar properties, such as high reactivity and the tendency to lose one electron to arrive at a noble-gas electronic configuration. As of 2016, a
History of the periodic table published his periodic table of the known elements, predicted new elements to help complete his table and corrected the atomic weights of some of the elements, Meyer published a virtually identical periodic table. Meyer and Mendeleev are considered by some historians of science to be the co-creators of the periodic table, but Mendeleev's accurate prediction of the qualities of undiscovered elements enables him to have the larger share of the credit. In 1864, the English chemist William Odling also drew up a table that was remarkably similar to the table produced by Mendeleev. Odling overcame the tellurium-iodine problem and even