The document discusses the periodic table, which was created by Dmitri Mendeleev. It organizes all known elements according to their atomic structure and chemical properties. Elements are arranged in rows called periods and columns called groups. Elements in the same group have the same number of valence electrons, while elements in the same period have the same number of electron shells. The periodic table is divided into different regions for metals, nonmetals, and metalloids based on their physical and chemical properties.