The periodic table is an organized array of all the chemical elements in order of increasing atomic number. It arranges the elements into rows (periods) and columns (groups), allowing scientists to quickly refer to information about an element, such as its atomic mass and chemical symbol. The table's arrangement also enables the discernment of trends in element properties, including electronegativity, ionization energy, and atomic radius
. Dmitri Mendeleev is most often credited as the inventor of the periodic table, having published his first version in 1869
. The periodic table is a central and indispensable part of modern chemistry, widely used in physics and other sciences
