Question

What is Newland’s law of octaves? Explain with an example.

Answer 1

As we know that the lithium element has the property similar to sodium. The eighth element from fluorine is chlorine. Fluorine and chlorine have similar chemical properties. Modern periodic table states that the properties of elements are dependent on their atomic numbers and elements show similar properties at regular intervals of increasing atomic number.

Complete answer:
We need to remember that when the elements are arranged in increasing order of their atomic masses, the properties of the eighth element are similar to that of the first. In $1866$, he arranged the known elements in order of increasing atomic masses. He started with element having low atomic mass, hydrogen and ended up in the thorium which was the $56th$ element. He found that every eight elements has properties similar to that of the first. He compared this to the octaves found in music. Therefore, he called it the “Law of Octaves”. It is known as “Newland’s Law of Octaves”. For Example: - The Properties of Lithium and sodium are similar. Sodium is the eight element after Lithium. There are certain limitations for Newland’s law of octaves which is Newland's law of octaves held true only for elements up to calcium. Elements with greater atomic masses could not be accommodated into octaves. The elements that were discovered later could not be fit into the octave pattern.

Note:
We must know that Newland organized periodic tables along with the symbols to elements on the basis of atomic masses of elements. The law of octaves was proposed by Newlands. Mendeleev created the first periodic table and was shortly followed by Meyer. They both arranged the elements by their mass and proposed that certain properties periodically reoccur.