Using the similarity theory and dimensional analysis to quantify the periodic dependence of the properties of chemical elements

Abstract

The similarity theory and dimensional analysis were used to establish the mathematical dependences of the properties of chemical elements on their atomic numbers in the periodic system. Dimensionless quantities of the complex type (similarity criteria) were derived, which include, among other quantities, the first ionization energies and atomic radii in their structure. The values of the proposed dimensionless quantities for eighty-six chemical elements of the first six periods of the periodic system (₁H–₈₆Rn) were calculated, and the corresponding criterion dependences were analyzed. The obtained criterion dependences were expanded in Fourier series with a finite number of terms; the characteristic features of the corresponding spectral diagrams were discussed. Analysis of the dependences of the properties of chemical elements on the atomic numbers, carried out within the framework of the mathematical apparatus of the similarity theory and dimensional analysis, led to the conclusion that the fundamental chemical law, known as the periodic law, is better called the law of oscillations and formulated as follows: the dependences of the properties of chemical elements on their atomic number have the character of a superposition of a series of oscillations.