Tables—continued

TABLE 2.21 Transmittance-Absorbance Conversion Table Continued)... 

High Strength table continued on next page. 

The simple trend in the formulas shown by the third-row elements demonstrates the importance of the inert gas electron populations. The usefulness of the regularities is evident. Merely from the positions of two atoms in the periodic table, it is possible to predict the most likely empirical and molecular formulas. In Chapters 16 and 17 we shall see that the properties of a substance can often be predicted from its molecular formula. Thus, we shall use the periodic table continuously throughout the course as an aid in correlating and in predicting the properties of substances. 

It Is something of a miracle that quantum mechanics explains the periodic table to the extent that It does we should not let this fact seduce us into believing that It Is a deductive explanation. Attempts to explain the details of the periodic table continue to challenge the Ingenuity of quantum physicists and quantum chemists, and the periodic table will continue to present a test case for the adequacy of new methods developed in quantum chemistry. 

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