Question

What is the meaning of Eka?

Answer 1

Eka in Sanskrit is used to define the number one, but in chemistry, this word was used by Dimitri Mendeleev when he was developing the periodic table in which he left some spaces in which he named some elements as eka-aluminium, eka-silicon, etc.

Complete step-by-step answer: There are many elements in nature that have different properties, so if want to study the properties of each and every element, then it is will be a very difficult job, so they were arranged in such a way that the elements which have the same properties were grouped together.
Mendeleev made the periodic table and he was first to develop the periodic table, in which he arranged the elements (known at that time) in the increasing order of atomic mass, and the elements having the same properties were placed together. At that time, all the elements were not discovered. When he was arranging the elements then only 63 elements were known, and while arranging them with similarity, he left some space between in the periodic table, so that when the elements are discovered later then they can be placed there.
He named the spaces with Eka-aluminium, Eka-boron, and Eka-silicon. Eka in Sanskrit is used to define the number one. He named it as Eka means next because he believed that the elements will be similar to aluminium, boron, and silicon.
The Eka-aluminium was invented as Gallium, Eka-boron was invented as Scandium, and Eka-silicon was invented as germanium.

Note: This was a plus point in the Mendeleev periodic table, but there were other limitations like the isotopes were not placed, no clarity in the structure of the atom, etc. due to which the modern periodic table was developed.