Question

Why is the periodic table organized by atomic number rather than alphabetically?

Answer 1

Answer:

Undoubtedly, part of the reason is that different languages have different names for different elements.

Explanation:

The word for nitrogen in French is azote ; Greek is "azoto"; Italian is "nitrogene" (I might be wrong on the last). I don't know what it is called in Mandarin. If, however, I use the symbol,  

N, chemists worldwide know that I speak of the element forwhichZ=7.

At least today, the chemical symbols of the Periodic Table transcend provincial languages (and of course English is included in that designation!).