Chapter 6 - The Periodic Table ‘A) Elements with Similar Chemical Properties Qa Al Qe: AQ If we put potassium, sodium and iron into water, we find that both potassium and sodium react vigorously with water, but there is no observable reaction between iron and water. So, potassium and sodium behave similarly. + What do you observe when a small piece of potassium is added into water? ‘The observations are: 1. Potassium melis to into a silvery ball. Tt moves about on the water surface quickly Hydrogen gas is produced. Tebums with a lac flame. (y sys) After reaction, the resulting solution is colourless, yee DE What do you observe when a small piece of sodium is added into water? The observations are: 1. Sodium meits to into a silvery ball. It moves about on the water surface quickly Hydrogen gas is produced. After reaction, the resulting solution is colourless. PER If we add calcium, magnesium and copper into hydrochloric acid, we find that both calcium and ‘magnesium react with the acid, but there is no reaction between copper and acid. So, calcium and magnesium behave similarly. Q3: What do you observe when calcium is added into hydrochloric acid? A3: The observations are: a 1. Colourless gas bubbles of hydrogen evolve, 2. Calcium granules 3. The resulting solution is milky. Ive. On adding aqueous sodium sulphite solution, chlorine water (pale green), bromine water (yellowish brown) and iodine solution (brown) all tum colourless, However, sulphur has no reaction when sodium sulphite solution is added. So, chlorine, bromine and iodine behave similarly. PagetB) Periodic Table © A Russian chemist Mendeleev arranged the elements known at that time in a table form. He put elements with similar chemical properties in the same vertical column of the table. Based on his, table, he could even predict the existence and properties of a few new elements that were unknown in his time, He called his table the Periodic Table © After several modifications, the modem Periodic Table is arranged in ascending order of atomic number. 31s ¥aix ale 28) 5) +3) Og). #2la~ Ble 28 5 al is £3] |. 32 > 3 28 2 edketa 228] eS na is [23,29] @ | a 54 2 aoa = in Sais Ele 25 ls 88x a i BE ie7ee7 flee oFelxaa] & & 2 g Z 32,88 as & 385268 £ 8 i a3) 24 | i adn 28 2 |[pEdoP seas 2a 3 [sala ®E le ee Fg ate Ee 2 R28 [e238 * = aslaty 22a 7 “| SeleBgle “al 23ln oa) 83 © ‘The elements are arranged in periods and groups of the Periodic Table. Page 21) Pes 1 He © A nhorizontal row of elements is called a period. Is izontal Row @ Each period has a number from 1 to 7. © For Period 1 elements, only one electron shell is occupied by electrons, and for Period 2 elements, two electron shells are occupied. So Period number = number of occupied electron shells. (B2) Groups ~ the Vertical Column ® A vertical column of elements is called a group. © There are 8 main groups, and each group has a number (I, II, IH, TV, V, VI, Vil and 0). © For Group I elements, they all contain 1 outermost shell electron, and for Group II elements, they have 2 outermost shell electrons. So Group number = number of electrons in the outermost shell (Exceptions: 1. Hydrogen does not belong to any group 2. For Group 0 clements, helium has two outermost shell electrons and the others have eight.) We find that both sodium and potassium belong to Group I, and both magnesium and calcium belong to Group Il. As we know that these two pairs of elements show similar (NOT same) chemical properties, so we can conclude that: Chemical properties of an element depend mainly on the number of outermost shell electrons. © Some of the groups have special names: Group I Group II Group VII Group 0 © The elements in between Group I and Group IIT are called (or transition metals), such as iron (Fe) and copper (Cu). Patterns in the Periodic Table © Across a period, the elements changes from metals through semi-metals to non-metals. © For example, in Period 2, there is a gradual change from a reactive metal (lithium), through a less reactive metal (beryllium), a semi-metal (boron), less reactive non-metals (carbon, nitrogen), to reactive non-metals (oxygen, fluorine), and finally to a noble gas (neon), Page 3‘D) Groups ~ Similarities and Trends © In the syllabus, we would study Group I, Group VII and Group 0 elements. Through these groups, we would find that there are gradual changes in chemical properties and / or physical properties. (D1)Group I~ The Alkali Metals © The Group I elements are called alkali metals because they react with water to form alkalis © The similarities of Group I elements are: All are soff, and they can be cut by knife easily ‘When freshly cut, all are silvery solids. All are reactive metals, so they are stored under paraffin oil to stop them reacting with air. ‘The densities are /ow. Lithium, sodium and potassium float on water. veers Compared with other metals, the melting points of them are /ow, and the melting points decrease down the group. © All Group I metals are reactive, and they get more reactive as you go down the group. In another words, the reactivity of Group I elements increase down the group. (D2)Group 11 The Alkaline Earth Metals © The Group II elements are called alkaline earth metals because they react with water to form alkalis, and their compounds are abundant in the Earth’s crust. © All the Group II metals are reactive, © Compared with the Group I metals in the same period, the Group II metals 1. have higher melting points, 2. are harder, and 3. are less reactive. © Similar to Group I metals, the reactivity of Group II metals increase down the group. (D3) Group VII — The Halogens © The Group VII elements are called halogens because they react with most metals to form salts (halogen means salt former). © The similarities of Group VII elements are: 1, All are reactive non-metals. All are poisonous non-metals. All form diatomic molecules (e.g. Cl, Br2).. All are coloured, and there is a gradual increase in the intensity of colour. wR YEN ‘The melting points increase down the group. Page 4Element | State at room conditions | _ Colour | Melting point /°C | Boiling point/°C Fluorine Gas Pale yellow 220 =190 Chlorine Gas | Greenish yellow “101 4 Bromine Liquid | Reddish brown a, 38 Todine ~ Solid black 113 184 eu ce the alkali metals, the reactivity of Group VII elements decrease downs the group. D4) Group 0 ~ The Noble Gases (or Inert Gases} © The Group 0 elements include helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe) and radon (Rn). The last one is radioactive and will be decomposed spontaneously. © The similarities of Group 0 clements are: 1, Allare colourless gases. 2. Allare chemically very stable, They have little or no reaction with other elements, © The explanation for the exceptional stability of noble gases is related to their electronic arrangements: Elements # Helium | Neon | Argon | Krypton | Xenon Radon [Btectronic arrangement | 2 | 28 | 288 | 2.8188 | 2.818188 | 2,8,18,32,188 | © Except helium (which has 2 electrons in the only one occupied shell), atoms of all noble gases have 8 electrons in the outermost shell, This shows that a special stability is obtained when: > an acter of electrons (i.e. 8 electrons in the outermost shell) or > aduplet of electrons (i. 2 electrons in the only one occupied shell). © Atoms of elements other than noble gases are usually not stable. In order to get this special stability, they need to attain an octet or duplet by reacting with other elements to form compounds. (E) Predicting Chemical Properties of an Unfamiliar Element © The chemical properties of an unfamiliar element can be predicted if we know its position in the Periodic Table, because we can make reasonable predictions by knowing the chemical properties of familiar elements in the same group, and the trend of chemical properties of that group © ‘Take caesium as an example. Given that caesium belongs to Group I, we can predict that: 1. Caesium is a silvery metal. 2. Caesium ean be cut easily with a knife, 3. The melting point of caesium is low. 4, Caesium is very reactive, and need to be stored under paraffin oil. © Besides that, since we know the reactivity of Group I metals increases down the group, and caesium is in a lower position than potassium in Group I, so we can predict that caesium reacts even very vigorously with water than potassium does. PagesHKCEE Question 2005 Q.1b Strontium (Sr) is another Group II element. It exists in several isotopic forms (i) What is the meaning of the term “isotope”? i) Strontium-90 (St) is a radioactive isotope of strontium, and is one of the dangerous by-products of nuclear fission. Complete the table below by providing the relevant information for a Sr atom. Number of protons ‘Number of neutrons Sr (2 marks) Similarity between a calcium atom and a strontium atom in terms of electronic arrangement, (ii) Children’s teeth require a large amount of calcium to grow, Scientists found that in areas where nuclear weapon tests were conducted above the ground, children’s teeth containied a higher level of Sr. Suggest a reason for the findings of the scientists. (2 marks) 2004 0.9a A portion of the Periodic Table is shown below: Group Lon om wove wwo ui[Be| B[c|N]|o|F [Ne Na | Mg | al | Si | P ct | ar K [Ga Br | wa Period (@ Identify ONE semi-metal in the above table. Gi) Suggest why Group 0 elements seldom form compounds. (iv) Which metal and non-metal in the above table would react most vigorously with each other? (¥) (1) The atomic number of bromine is 35. The electronic arrangement of a bromine atom can be represented as 2,8,x,y. What are the values of x and y? Pages