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Reading the Periodic Table

(Part 1)

 In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleeve published the first periodic table of elements. In this periodic table,
elements were arranged according to increasing atomic mass. The word “periodic” means “a
regular repeated pattern”. This means that in his periodic table, the properties of the elements
repeat in each row – or period of the table.

1. Define atomic mass.

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2. The word “periodic” means repeating in a regular pattern. Give an example of an event
or an observation in nature that can be described as “periodic”.
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 Because differences in mass could not explain the way some elements react, chemists, notably
Moseley, organized the elements according to increasing atomic number. In today’s modern
periodic table, the elements are arranged according to increasing atomic number.

1. Define atomic number.

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2. To which atomic particle is the atomic number also equal? Explain why the atomic
number is also equal in number to these particles.
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 The periodic table contains over 100 squares, one separate squares for each element. Each square
of the periodic table usually includes the elements’ atomic number, chemical symbol, atomic mass
and its name.

1. Complete the information in the square for the element iron below:
 Atomic number

Fe Symbol

Element’s Name

Atomic Mass

 The main body of the periodic table is arranged into 18 vertical columns and seven horizontal
rows. Elements in a vertical column are called a GROUP or Family. Each group is numbered
from Group 1 on the left of the table to Group 18 on the right side of the table.

 Elements in a horizontal row are called a PERIOD. Each period is numbered from Period 1 to
Period 7.

 The elements in Group 1 are all metals. Group 1 elements are called the alkali metals. They are
very reactive so much so that they are always found in combination with other elements. The two
most common elements in Group 1 are sodium and magnesium. They are both essential to life so
your diet must include potassium and sodium. Lithium is used in batteries. Notice that hydrogen,
a nonmetal, is included in Group 1. This is because hydrogen is also as reactive as the other
members of Group 1.

1. List down the names and symbols of members of Group 1.

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 Group 2 of the periodic table contains the alkaline earth metals. They are the second most
reactive metals in the periodic table. They are also found combined in nature, hard, gray white and
are good conductors of electricity. The two most common are calcium and magnesium.
Magnesium is used in flash bulbs. It is combined with aluminum to produce an alloy of
lightweight material for airplane parts. Calcium is essential for the teeth and bones.

1. List down the names and symbols of the members of Group 2.

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 The elements from Groups 3 to Group 12 are called transition metals. They form a bridge
between the very reactive metals on the left side of the periodic table and the less reactive metals
and other elements on the right side. The transition metals include familiar elements like iron,
copper, nickel, silver and gold. Most of the transition metals are hard and shiny. Gold and copper
have unusual colors. All are good conductors of electricity. They have metallic luster and
malleability. Malleable materials are those that can be made into thin sheets without breaking or
turning into powder. They are stable, reacting slowly with the air and water or not at all. Iron is
an important part of hemoglobin, the protein that gives red color to your blood and carries oxygen
to the different parts of the body. Transition metals are also used to make colorful paints,
including cobalt blue, zinc white, cadmium red and chromium green.

1. List down common properties of metals.

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2. Write the symbol of the following transition metals: copper, nickel, silver, gold, iron,
cobalt, cadmium and chromium.
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 The inner transition metals are located below the transition metals and generally fit after barium
and radium in the periodic table. They are divided into lanthanides and actinides. The
lanthanides are too reactive to exist freely and are used in the production of petroleum, synthetic
products, X-ray intensifying screens and motion picture projectors. The actinides are all
radioactive – meaning, they give off energy or radiation that can be used for instance in medicine.
 Radiation is used in cancer treatment. The most important inner transition metal is uranium, used
to fuel nuclear reactions that generate heat and converts water to steam that turns generators to
produce electricity. The actinide metal named americium is used in smoke detectors. All the
elements after uranium in the periodic table were created artificially in the laboratory.
Lanthanides and actinides are also called rare earth metals.

1. Which is the first element in the lanthanide series? Which is the first element in the
actinide series? Infer why the series are called lanthanide and actinide series.
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 The elements located to the right of the transition metals include some metals, metalloids and the
nonmetals. These elements form compounds that are important to living things. Metalloids are
elements that exhibit some properties of metals and some properties of nonmetals. Notice a
zigzag line separating the metals from the following metalloids: boron, silicon, germanium,
arsenic, antimony and astatine. A nonmetal is an element that does not conduct electricity, is a
poor conductor of heat and brittle when solid. Many nonmetals are gases at room temperature.

1. Differentiate the following: metal, metalloid and nonmetal.

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2. Write the symbols of the metalloids.
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 Group 13 elements are referred to as the boron group. Boron is a metalloid and the rest of the
members are metals. Aluminum is the most important member of the group. It is the second most
abundantly produced metal in the world and is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust. It
forms an alloy with other metals and is used to produce variety of materials commercially.

1. Write the names and symbols of the elements belonging to Group 13 or boron
group.
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 The next group is the carbon group or Group 14. Carbon is the most important element in the
group. It is used as the basic building block of living organisms. It is important commercially as a
fuel when it combines with hydrogen to form hydrocarbons. Silicon is used to make glass.
Germanium is used in electronics. Tin is used in cans to package food products while lead is used
in automobile batteries.

1. List down the names and symbols of the Group 14 members.

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 Group 15 elements are members of the nitrogen group. Nitrogen gas constitutes about 78% of
the earth’s atmosphere. Most of the nitrogen is converted by bacteria into compounds to sustain
life. It is also an important substance in fertilizers. Phosphorus is also important as a component
of fertilizers and commercially, it is used to produce variety of chemical agents like cleaners. The
rest of the members are metalloids.

1. List down the names and symbols of the members of the nitrogen group.
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2. Charcoal is composed mostly of carbon. Farmers provide their growing plants with
fertilizers that include the element nitrogen. Which has a greater mass, an atom of
carbon or an atom of nitrogen? How can you tell?
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 Group 16 is led by oxygen, an important element that makes up 21% of the earth’s atmosphere in
the form of oxygen gas or O 2. It also occurs in nature in the form of water or H 2O. Sulfur is
important as sulfuric acid or H2SO4.

1. What are the Group 16 elements? Write their names and symbols.
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 The halogen group or group 17 are all nonmetals except astatine which is a metalloid. This
group is also called the “salt-former” for when they produce salt when combined with other
metals. Fluorine is the most reactive halogen. Chlorine is the most commercially useful halogen.
It occurs naturally in salt, used as disinfectant for water and bleach. Bromine is used in pesticides,
photographic films and antiseptic solutions.

1. Which elements are called halogens? Write their names and symbols.
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 The noble gases make up the final group in the periodic table. They belong to group 18. They are
all in the gaseous state and are all unreactive. They do not combine with other elements to form
compounds. Radon is the most reactive noble gas. Helium is used to fill balloons because it is
lighter than air. Neon is used in neon signs.

1. List down the names and symbols of the noble gases.

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