Atomic Potential Wells and the Periodic Table

Abstract

The trend of various atomic properties (e.g., electron potentials, binding energies, scattering phase shifts) along the periodic system is examined utilizing available evidence from experiments and computations. Properties that depend primarily on different layers of the atomic structure are seen to attain extreme values at different columns of the periodic table. From this plausible connection, one can see where and how to search for additional striking variations of properties from one element to the next; e.g., experiments on elastic scattering of slow electrons are thus indicated. The analysis also contributes to the interpretation and correlation of various atomic properties.