The periodic table is a helpful tool used by scientists and students to find the structured sequence which identifies an element.  With practice you can determine information such as: number of protons, number of neutrons, number of electrons,  valence electrons, the electron configuration, atomic number, mass number, atomic mass number,  whether its a metal, non-metal, or metalloid, whether the element is a solid, liquid, or gas, how reactive the element is, the physical and chemical properties of the element, the chemical bonding possibilities of the element, and more .