CHEMISTRY
This, in turn, defines the
THE PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS
 The periodic table is organized so scientists
can quickly discern the properties of
individual elements such as their mass,
electron number, electron configuration and
their unique chemical properties.
 The atomic mass of an element is the
average mass of the atoms of an element
measured in atomic mass unit (amu, also
known as daltons, D). The atomic mass is a
weighted average of all of the isotopes of
that element, in which the mass of each
isotope is multiplied by the abundance of
that particular isotope.
 The atomic mass is useful in chemistry
when it is paired with the mole concept:
the atomic mass of an element, measured
in amu, is the same as the mass in grams of
one mole of an element.
 The atomic number of a chemical element
is the number of protons in the nucleus of
an atom of the element. It is the charge
number of the nucleus since neutrons carry
no net electrical charge. The atomic number
determines the identity of an element and
many of its chemical properties.
 The atomic number is also known as the
proton number. It may be represented by
the capital letter Z. The use of capital letter
Z comes from the German word Atomzahl,
which means "atomic number". Before the
year 1915, the word Zahl (number) was
used to describe an element's position on
the periodic table.
 The reason the atomic number determines
the chemical properties of an element is
that the number of protons also determines
the number of electrons in an electrically
neutral atom.
electron configuration of the atom and the
nature of its outermost or valence shell. The
behavior of the valence shell determines
how readily an atom will form chemical
bonds and participate in chemical reactions.
 The original periodic table of the elements
published by Dimitri Mendeleev in 1869
arranged the elements that were known at
the time in order of increasing atomic
weight, since this was prior to the discovery
of the nucleus and the interior structure of
the atom. The modern periodic table is
arranged in order of increasing atomic
number instead.
 The periodic table names each element, and
gives its elemental symbol, atomic number
and weight. The elements are listed in order
of their atomic number and are divided
according to metals and non-metals. Metals
can further be categorized into alkali,
alkaline, lanthanoids, actinoids, transition
metals, post transition metals, and
metalloids. Non-metals are categorized as
noble gases and other non-metals.
 A metal is an element that readily forms
positive ions (cations) and has metallic
bonds. Metals are sometimes described as a
lattice of positive ions surrounded by a
cloud of delocalized electrons.
 Alakali metals (IA) are (except for
hydrogen) soft, shiny, low-melting, highly
reactive metals, which tarnish when
exposed to air. The name comes from the
fact that when these metals or their oxides
are dissolved in water, a basic (alkaline)
solution results. Because the alkali metals
are very reactive, they are seldom (if ever)
found in their elemental form in nature, and
are usually found as ionic compounds
(except for hydrogen).

- Hydrogen typically does not form
cations, but instead forms
compounds through covalent
bonding
- The alkali metals have only one
valence electron in their highest-
energy orbitals (ns1).  In their
respective periods, they are the
largest elements and have the
lowest ionization energies.  The
valence electron is easily lost,
forming an ion with a 1+ charge.
- They form ionic compounds
(salts) in reaction with the
halogens (alkali halides). Sodium
and potassium ions form
important constituents of body
fluids (electrolytes).
 Alkaline earth metals (IIA) - The name
for this specific group of metals comes from
their own oxides that, in turn, provide the
basic alkaline solutions. Aside from
magnesium and beryllium, the alkaline
earth metals possess an identifiable flame
color. These flame colors are crimson red
for radium, green for Barium, bright red for
strontium, and orange for calcium.
- The term alkaline reflects the fact that
many compounds of these metals are
basic or alkaline. The term earth was
historically used to describe the fact that
many of these compounds are insoluble
in water. Most of the chemistry of the
alkaline-earth metals (Group IIA) can be
predicted from the behavior of the alkali
metals (Group IA). Three points should
be kept in mind, however.
- The alkaline-earth metals tend to
lose two electrons to form M 2+
ions (Be2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, and so
on).
- These metals are less reactive
than the neighboring alkali
metal. Magnesium is less active
than sodium; calcium is less
active than potassium; and so
on.
- These metals become more
active as we go down the
column. Magnesium is more
active than beryllium; calcium is
more active than magnesium;
and so on.
 Lanthanides - Lanthanides are the 15
elements that comprise the atomic numbers
57 to 71 on the periodic table. The series of
elements ranges from lanthanum to
lutetium. All lanthanide elements are f-block
elements, which means they correlate to
the 4f electron shell’s filling. Even though
the element called lutetium is a d-block
element, it is mostly considered a d-block
element, too. The group of elements as a
whole is called lanthanide because the more
light elements in their series are similar,
chemically, to lanthanum.
 Actinides - Actinides are the 15 chemical
elements that feature the numbers 89 to
103, which correspond to actinium to
lawrencium. The name of this series of
elements comes from the element
actinium. While the majority of actinide
elements on the actinide elements list are
synthetic elements, uranium and thorium
can be found in nature in more than just
trace quantities. One property that these
elements are famous for is the
radioactivity that is found in all of them;
plutonium, thorium, and uranium are
utilized in nuclear weapons and reactors.
 Transition metals - Transition metals are
the elements that feature atoms that have
 an incompleted sub-shell. Transition
metals or elements are unique from other
elements by their common properties.
One property is that they form a lot of
compounds in quite a few states of
oxidation. Another property they are
known for is their tendency to form a lot
of paramagnetic compounds, mainly due
to the low reactivity of their d electrons
that are unpaired.
 Metalloids - are best defined by two
criteria. They often create amphoteric
oxides and behave in the same manner as
semiconductors. Silicon, boron,
germanium, tellurium, antimony, and
arsenic are in general classified as
metalloids. Sometimes, the element called
polonium is also included in the metalloid
classification, but there is still dispute
regarding this among the experts.
 A non-metal - a chemical element (such as
boron, carbon, or nitrogen) that lacks the
characteristics of a metal: malleability,
lustrous, conductors of electricity.
 Noble gases - They are the most stable due
to having the maximum number of valence
electrons their outer shell can hold.
Therefore, they rarely react with other
elements since they are already stable.
- Other characteristics of the noble
gases are that they all conduct
electricity, fluoresce, are
odorless and colorless, and are
used in many conditions when a
stable element is needed to
maintain a safe and constant
environment.
 Halogens - The halogens are five non-
metallic elements found in group 17 of the
periodic table. The term "halogen" means
"salt-former" and compounds containing
halogens are called "salts". All halogens
have 7 electrons in their outer shells, giving
them an oxidation number of -1. The
halogens exist, at room temperature, in all
three states of matter.
 Chalcogens - The term "chalcogens" was
derived from the Greek word chalcos ,
meaning "ore formers," since they all are be
found in copper ores. The group VIA
elements are called chalcogens because
most ores of copper (Greek chalkos) are
oxides or sulfides, and such ores contain
traces of selenium and tellurium.
How will you use the table?
One way in which you will use the periodic table is
to analyze trends in the elements on the table. The
table itself is organized in a way that it shows
trends in a variety of properties. These properties
are:
 Atomic Radius – ½ the distance between
the nuclei of two adjacent atoms
 Ionization Energy – the amount of energy
needed to cause an electron to be removed
from an atom while in the gas phase
 Electron Affinity – An atom's ability to take
in an electron
 Electronegativity – An atom's ability to form
a bond
PERIODIC TRENDS
1. ELECTRONEGATIVITY TRENDS
Electronegativity measures an atom's
tendency to attract and form bonds with
electrons. This property exists due to the
electronic configuration of atoms.
From left to right across a period of
elements, electronegativity increases.
If the valence shell of an atom is less than
half full, it requires less energy to lose an
electron than to gain one. Conversely, if the
 valence shell is more than half full, it is
easier to pull an electron into the valence
shell than to donate one.
From top to bottom down a group,
electronegativity decreases. This is
because atomic number increases down a
group, and thus there is an increased
distance between the valence electrons and
nucleus, or a greater atomic radius.
Important exceptions of the above
rules include the noble gases,
lanthanides, and actinides. The noble
gases possess a complete valence shell and
do not usually attract electrons. The
lanthanides and actinides possess more
complicated chemistry that does not
generally follow any trends. Therefore,
noble gases, lanthanides, and actinides do
not have electronegativity values.
As for the transition metals, although
they have electronegativity values,
there is little variance among them
across the period and up and down a
group. This is because their metallic
properties affect their ability to attract
electrons as easily as the other elements.
2. IONIZATION ENERGY TRENDS
Ionization energy is the energy required to remove
an electron from a neutral atom in its gaseous
phase. Conceptually, ionization energy is the
opposite of electronegativity. The lower this energy
is, the more readily the atom becomes a cation.
Another factor that affects ionization energy
is electron shielding. Electron shielding describes
the ability of an atom's inner electrons to shield its
positively-charged nucleus from its valence
electrons. When moving to the right of a period,
the number of electrons increases and the strength
of shielding increases. As a result, it is easier for
valence shell electrons to ionize, and thus the
ionization energy decreases down a group. Electron
shielding is also known as screening.
 The ionization energy of the
elements within a period generally
increases from left to right. This is
due to valence shell stability.
 The ionization energy of the
elements within a group generally
decreases from top to bottom. This
is due to electron shielding.
 The noble gases possess very high
ionization energies because of their
full valence shells as indicated in the
graph. Note that helium has the highest
ionization energy of all the elements.
3. ELECTRON AFFINITY TREND
As the name suggests, electron affinity is the ability
of an atom to accept an electron. Unlike
electronegativity, electron affinity is a quantitative
measurement of the energy change that occurs
when an electron is added to a neutral gas atom.
The more negative the electron affinity value, the
higher an atom's affinity for electrons.
 Electron affinity increases from left
to right within a period. This is
caused by the decrease in atomic
radius.
 Electron affinity decreases from top
to bottom within a group. This is
caused by the increase in atomic radius.
4. ATOMIC RADIUS TREND
The atomic radius is one-half the distance between
the nuclei of two atoms (just like a radius is half
the diameter of a circle). This distance is measured
in picometers.
 Atomic radius decreases from left to
right within a period. This is caused by
the increase in the number of protons and
electrons across a period. One proton has a
greater effect than one electron; thus,
electrons are pulled towards the nucleus,
resulting in a smaller radius.
  Atomic radius increases from top to
bottom within a group. This is caused
by electron shielding.

5. MELTING POINT TRENDS

The melting points is the amount of energy
required to break a bond(s) to change the solid
phase of a substance to a liquid. Generally, the
stronger the bond between the atoms of an
element, the more energy required to break that
bond. Because temperature is directly proportional
to energy, a high bond dissociation energy
correlates to a high temperature. Melting points are
varied and do not generally form a distinguishable
trend across the periodic table.

 Metals generally possess a high

melting point.
 Most non-metals possess low melting
points.
 The non-metal carbon possesses the
highest boiling point of all the
elements. The semi-metal boron also
possesses a high melting point.

6. METALLIC CHARACTER TRENDS

The metallic character of an element can be
defined as how readily an atom can lose an
electron.

 Metallic characteristics decrease from

left to right across a period. This is
caused by the decrease in radius (caused by
Zeff, as stated above) of the atom that
allows the outer electrons to ionize more
readily.
 Metallic characteristics increase down
a group. Electron shielding causes the
atomic radius to increase thus the outer
electrons ionizes more readily than
electrons in smaller atoms.
 Metallic character relates to the ability to
lose electrons, and nonmetallic character
relates to the ability to gain electrons.