The periodic table was developed by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. He organized the known elements into a table based on their chemical properties and predicted properties of elements not yet discovered. The periodic table arranges elements in vertical columns called groups based on their chemical properties and horizontal rows called periods from left to right by increasing atomic number. Metals are on the left, nonmetals on the right, and metalloids in the middle. Examples of elements and their uses include copper for wiring and plumbing, silver for tableware and batteries, and mercury for thermometers.