10th Class Science Periodic Classification of Elements Newlands Classification

          Newland's Classification

           Newlands' Law of Octaves The attempts of Dobereiner encouraged other chemists to correlate the properties of elements with their atomic masses. In 1866, John Newlands, an English scientist, arranged the then known elements in the order of increasing atomic masses. He started with the element having the lowest atomic mass (hydrogen) and ended at thorium which was the 56th element. He found that every eighth element had 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 'Newlands' Law of Octaves'. In Newlands' Octaves, the properties of lithium and sodium were found to be the same. Sodium is the eighth element after lithium. Similarly, beryllium and magnesium resemble each other. A part of the original form of Newlands' Octaves is given in Table below:  

It was found that the Law of Octaves was applicable only up to calcium, as after calcium every eighth element did not possess properties similar to that of the first.

           Drawbacks of New/land's Octave Law

• It was assumed by Newlands that only 56 elements existed in nature and no more elements would be discovered in the future. But, later on, several new elements were discovered, whose properties did not fit into the Law of Octaves.
• In order to fit elements into his Table, Newlands adjusted two elements in the same slot, but also put some unlike elements under the same note. Note that cobalt and nickel are in the same slot and these are placed in the same column as fluorine, chlorine and bromine which have very different properties than these elements. Iron, which resembles cobalt and nickel in properties, has been placed far away from these elements. Thus, Newlands' Law of Octaves worked well with lighter elements only.            
• Newland's arrangement was applicable only to a few elements after that it was failed.

            Advantages of New/land's Octave Law

• This law provided a basis for the classification of element into groups of elements having similar properties.
• This law provided a wider scope to arrange all known elements into a tabular form