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How did John Newlands’s law of octaves contribute to the development of the periodic table?

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Periodic table of the elements with color-coded categories and labeled element groups, showing atomic numbers, symbols, and basic information for each chemical element. — periodic table Modern version of the periodic table of the elements. To learn an element's name, atomic number, electron configuration, atomic weight, and more, select one from the table.

In 1865, English chemist John Newlands proposed the law of octaves, which observed that when chemical elements are arranged by increasing atomic weight, those with similar physical and chemical properties recur at intervals of eight. Newlands drew an analogy between this pattern and the intervals of a musical scale.123

Although his work was initially controversial, it was a pioneering effort that significantly contributed to the development of the periodic law. Newlands was among the first to identify a periodic pattern in the properties of elements, providing a foundational concept that anticipated later advancements. His systematic approach of ordering elements by atomic weight helped pave the way for the more comprehensive periodic table later developed by Dmitri Mendeleev, who refined the understanding of how element properties change periodically.213