Periodic Table Trends

Factors Affecting Trends

I. Nuclear Charge
A higher amount of protons in the nucleus means a stronger attraction for electrons

II. Shielding
The nuclear charge is reduced by the amount of inner electrons. We can obtain a rough estimate for Zeff
by Z – (inner electrons). Electrons at the same shell can still affect the Zeff but to a lesser degree.

III. Penetration
Intersects between subshells cause a pattern wherein some subshells are more stable than other
subshells. In order of decreasing stability s>p>d>f

Periodic Trends
Remember that we are analyzing trends in the periodic table and not memorizing , answers in future
deliverables should be based on the periodic trends and not on actual values.

I. Atomic Radius
Defined as half the distance between two nuclei of two bonded atoms, and measured in picometers.

• Higher size means that the valence electrons are further from the nucleus

Trend:

• Going U→D the periodic table shows an increase in n, means an increase in size
• Going L→R the periodic table show an increase in the effective nuclear charge decreasing the
size of the atoms

II. Electronegativity
The ability of an atom to attract and keep electrons, based on the pauling scale. As this is more of a relative
scale as opposed to actual measurements this is not as commonly seen in trends.

• More electronegative atoms have a high tendency to take and keep electrons from other atoms
• Less electronegative atoms are likely to lose electrons from more electronegative atoms

Trend:

• Going U→D the periodic table shows an increase in n, means an increase in size, which also
means more difficulty to attract electrons, thus having lower electronegativity
• Going L→R the periodic table show an increase in the amount of valence electrons, showing a
higher ability to attract electrons. Thus increasing the electronegativity
 • Exceptions relevant to our class are the noble gases which do not have values for
electronegativity due to having complete valence (this will come into our discussion in bonding)

III. Ionization Energy

The energy required to remove 1 electron from an atom, the 1st ionization energy is the energy required
to remove 1 electron, the 2nd ionization energy is the energy required to remove the 2nd electron and so
on and so forth.

• The higher the ionization energy, the harder it is to lose the electron. Which means having high
ionization energy means they have a tendency to form anions
• The lower the ionization energy, the easier it is to lose the electron. Which means having low
ionization energy means they have a tendency to form cations
• The ionization energy increases as more electrons are removed, so 1st<2nd<3rd and so on

Trend:

• Going U→D the periodic table show a decrease in Ionization energy, due to shielding.
• Going L→R the periodic table show an increase in Ionization Energy due to increase in valence
electrons

IV. Electron Affinity

The energy change when 1 mole of the atoms accept 1 mole of electrons. The more negative the value,
the higher the atoms affinity for electrons. Conversely the more positive the value the more difficulty it
will have accepting electrons

• More negative values mean it is easier to accept electrons

• More positive values mean it is harder to accept electrons

Trend:

• Going U→D the periodic table show a decrease in electron affinity as again due to connections
to atomic sie
• Going L→R the periodic table show an increase in electron affinity due to connections to atomic
size and effective nuclear charge (Zeff)
Summary

Summary
Atomic Radius
→Electronegativity(except noble gas), Ionization Energy, Electron Affinity,
Electronegativity
Insert Periodic Table Here
→Electronegativity(except noble gas), Ionization
Energy, Electron Affinity, Electronegativity
Atomic Radius

Special Trends
I. Metallic Properties
Metals have a tendency to release electrons, typically shiny solids with moderate to high melting points
and good conductors of heat and electricity. Thus the trend is more of a combination of the properties of
the other trends.

Trend:

• Going U→D the periodic table show an increase in metallic properties

• Going L→R the periodic table show a decrease in metallic properties

II. Ionic Sizes

Atoms generally form cations or anions, gaining or losing electrons show a change of size in our atoms.
an important part of analyzing trends for Ionic sizes is to recognize the existence of charged ions with
similar Electron configuration or Isoelectronic atoms.

• Cations are smaller than their original atom due to the loss of electrons
• Anions are larger than their original atom due to the increased amount of electrons
Trend

• Cations decrease in size as charge increases. (+1>+2>+3)

• Anions decrease in size as the charge changes from more negative to less negative (-3>-2>-1)
• For isoelectronic atoms, order is at -3>-2>-1>+1>+2>+3