Periodic table provides a revolutionary system of classification of universally occurring elements. The existence of a few elements was documented since ancient Greece: gold, silver, copper, lead, and mercury were the most straightforward to understand and classify (Western Oregon University, 1997). During the Enlightenment, a renewed quest for scientific inquiry into the composition of matter was underway and aided by instruments that helped to discern the properties of discovered elements. A major breakthrough in elemental discovery was made in 1649, when German alchemist Hennig Brand discovered phosphorous after conducting experiments on urine: "He heated residues from boiled urine, and a liquid dropped out and burst into flames. This was the first discovery of phosphorus," (Lenntech, 2011). Over the next several hundred years, new elements were continually discovered. Researchers were then able to recognize similarities and differences between the elements that led to the development of a classification system. The classification...
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