Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was a Russian chemist who lived from 1834 to 1907. He is best known for creating the periodic table of elements, a way to organize all the known chemicals in the world. His idea, called the periodic law, helped scientists understand how these elements relate to each other.

Mendeleev’s table was special because he left spaces for elements that had not yet been discovered. He even predicted what these missing elements would be like. Later, three new elements were found — germanium, gallium, and scandium — and they matched his predictions perfectly.

Because of his important work, a synthetic element created much later was named mendelevium in his honor. His periodic table is still used today by scientists all over the world to study and discover new chemicals.

Early life

Dmitri Mendeleev was born in a small village near Tobolsk in Siberia. His father was a school principal and teacher, and his mother came from a family of merchants. Mendeleev was the youngest of 17 siblings, though not all survived to be baptized.

When Mendeleev was 13, his father lost his sight and could no longer work, and a fire destroyed his mother’s glass factory. Mendeleev’s mother took him to Moscow to try to enroll him at Moscow University, but he was not accepted. They then traveled to Saint Petersburg, where he enrolled at the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1850. After graduating, Mendeleev became ill with tuberculosis and went to the Crimean Peninsula to recover. He returned to Saint Petersburg in 1857, fully recovered.

Mendeleev later worked in Heidelberg and wrote a textbook called Organic Chemistry, which earned him an award. He married Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva in 1862 and became a professor at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute and Saint Petersburg State University. By 1871, he had helped make Saint Petersburg a well-known place for chemistry research.

Periodic table

See also: History of the periodic table

In the 1860s, scientists were discovering new elements quickly. Some had noticed patterns in how these elements behaved, but it was Dmitri Mendeleev who created the first clear periodic table. In 1869, he shared his idea with other scientists in Russia. He showed that when elements are arranged by their weight, their properties repeat in a pattern.

Mendeleev’s table was special because he left spaces for elements that had not yet been discovered. He even guessed what these new elements would be like. Later, three new elements—germanium, gallium, and scandium—were found, and they matched his predictions perfectly. He also helped fix the known properties of some elements, like uranium, so they fit better with his system.

Later life

Dmitri Mendeleev met Anna Ivanovna Popova in 1876 and married her in 1882 after divorcing his first wife. Despite his fame, this led to some trouble because church rules made it complicated. Later, he left Saint Petersburg University in 1890 and became the director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures until he passed away.

Mendeleev studied petroleum and helped start Russia’s first oil refinery. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry three times near the end of his life, but did not win due to disagreements among the judges.

Death

In 1907, Dmitri Mendeleev passed away at the age of 72 in Saint Petersburg from influenza. He was buried at Literatorskie Mostki cemetery. Mendeleev was a great scientist who made many important discoveries. He helped start the Russian Chemical Society in 1868 and studied many areas like chemistry, physics, and even ideas about the natural world. He also helped bring the metric system to the Russian Empire and worked on new types of materials for the Russian Navy.

Activities beyond chemistry

Dmitri Mendeleev used his knowledge in many areas outside of chemistry. He studied Russian industry and farming, helped protect the country's growing businesses, and supported the Russian navy. He also worked to improve how Russia measured things, introducing the metric system and creating better rules for weights and measures.

There is a popular story in Russia that Mendeleev set the strength of vodka at 40%, but this is not true. The strength was actually set by the government many years before he was born. While Mendeleev did work with measurements, his job was about trade weights and instruments, not about making rules for alcohol products.

Commemoration

Dmitri Mendeleev's important work has been honored in many places and with many names.

In Saint Petersburg, a famous institute for measurements is named after him, D. I. Mendeleev Institute for Metrology, and there is a statue of him nearby. At Saint Petersburg State University, there is a museum in his old apartment, and a street is named after him too, Mendeleevskaya liniya. In Moscow, a university for chemical technology carries his name, the D. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia.

Scientists named a special man-made element after him, Mendelevium, and even a rare mineral found in nature has his name in it. There is also a big crater on the far side of the Moon called Mendeleev.

The Russian Academy of Sciences gives out a special award called the Mendeleev Golden Medal, and in 2016, Google celebrated his birthday with a special drawing on its homepage, a Google doodle.

Works

Dmitri Mendeleev wrote many important books and articles about chemistry and science. Some of his well-known works include Периодический закон (DjVu), Растворы (DjVu), and Периодический закон. Дополнительные материалы (DjVu). He also wrote about topics like the expansion of liquids, gases, and even Russia itself. In total, he contributed over 54 articles to an encyclopedia, sharing his knowledge with many people.