Chemistry of the Periodic Table

Introduction:

The periodic table is an amazing tool for getting an overview of all the elements in
existence, even those elements that only exist owing to their creation by humankind. In this lab
activity, you will be using a Labster© simulation to explore some of the most useful features of the
periodic table, including how its arrangement elucidates different elements’ physical
characteristics, atomic emission features, electronic structures, and trends in atomic properties.
While you will not carry out the work for the simulation in a physical setting, one advantage that
this virtual interface offers is that you can conduct experiments that are not typically offered in the
undergraduate laboratory setting. In completing the activities described below, you will use
empirical observations you make on certain elements to reconstruct the periodic table after certain
elements on it are partially disorganized. You will also extend some of what you learn from the
simulation to answer additional questions about the characteristics and behavior of various
elemental materials.

Objectives:
 Conduct simulations of experiments using the Labster© online interface.
 Classify a grouping of elements based on their location in the periodic table.
 Distinguish metals from other element classes based on typical characteristics.
 Use the flame color test to identify metals based on their position in the periodic table and
to explain the emission processes taking place on the atomic level.
 Describe the causes on the atomic level for the main trends among groups and periods
concerning atomic radii, ionization energy and electronegativity.

To do before lab:
 Access Labster© on your computer or device, including by working through the example
“Chemistry Safety” simulation, so that you are familiar with using it prior to lab meeting.
 Review the following topics in your textbook, using the index as your guide: The Periodic
Table, Electron Configurations, Atomic Emissions, Atomic Sizes, Ionization Energy,
Electronegativity, and Periodic Trends.
 Complete the required sections for your lab notebook including: Name, course and section
number, title, date, and Objectives (1 point of 30 point assignment).

Assignment:

Periodic Table of Elements: Get the table organized in time!1

1. Visit the Chem 101 lab Sakai site and click on the “Labster Simulations” tab on the left. Click
on Periodic Table of Elements: Get the table organized in time! to start the simulation, which
should open up in a new tab or window.

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Adapted with permission from Labster©
 Note: Labster will run only in Chrome or Firefox browsers, with Firefox being preferred. If you
do not have either browser installed on your computer, you can search the Internet or App store
to find, download, and install them for free.

2. Follow the on screen instructions to allow the simulation to load, which may take a few minutes.
After it has loaded, click “Start.”
If at any point in working through the simulation you need to switch screens or take a break,
you can push the “Esc” key to pause. You would then return to the simulation by clicking the
“Resume” button.
3. The simulation will lead you through the steps you need to take to complete your work. By
default audio is enabled, including sound effects, music, and voice overs, however, you can
mute any or all of these options within the simulation by clicking the audio symbol found
at the top right corner of your lab pad used in the simulation.
4. Between Questions 3 & 4 (Progress ~23%), you will observe the different elements’ physical
appearances, including their shininess, sometimes known as luster. Record observations on
each of the elements in your own personal lab notebook, including what the phase, color, and
luster of each element is as well as what solvent each element is stored in, if any.

5. After Question 4 (Progress ~32%), you will conduct a flame test. A flame test is carried out by
dipping a wire into solutions of the dissolved metal ions and sticking that wire into a flame to
observe how the various metals change the color of the flame.
Prior to conducting the test with any of the metals, you are asked to dip the wire loop into
hydrochloric acid and water followed by pre-heating it in the flame. As the simulation mentions,
this is done to remove trace samples of ions that could remain from previous uses of the wire.
If you were to conduct a flame test in the actual lab, you would follow this same cleaning
procedure.
Predict: What do you think might happen if you did NOT clean the wire prior to conducting
the flame test? Record your prediction in your lab notebook.
6. (~37% progress) Record in your lab notebook the colors of each flame that appears when you
stick the wire into the flame after dipping it into each different metal ion solution. You can use
the colors described to you by Labster©, but you should also record the colors that you directly
observe yourself.
7. After completing the flame tests and answering Question 5 (~50% progress), the simulation will
lead you back to the periodic table in the center of the room and show you the colors that various
metals emit when also subjected to the flame test. In addition to following the simulation’s
prompting to correctly position the “missing” metallic elements, make note of the colors
Labster© is reporting potassium (K).
8. After Question 9 (~67% progress), you will review the information Labster gives you on various
properties of the elements, such as atomic radii, electronegativities, and ionization energies to
explore different trends in these properties, such as how their values change in moving down a
group of elements or in moving across a period.
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 Using the data table below as a template, record in your lab notebook the (a) relative atomic
radius sizes, (b) ionization energy values, and (c) the electronegativity values for both the Group
1 elements as well as the Period 4 elements.

Table 1: Group 1 Atomic Properties

Atomic Radius (comparative size) Ionization Energy Electronegativity
(kJ/mol)
Li
Na
K
Rb
Cs

Table 2: Period 4 Atomic Properties

Atomic Radius (comparative size) Ionization Energy Electronegativity
(kJ/mol)
K
Ca
Sc
Ti
V

Labster© will ask you to designate with arrows provided how each property changes up/down
a group and across a period. Make sure to record those observations in your lab notebook, as
well, for instance, you could write, “Electronegativity (increases or decreases) down a group
and (increases or decreases) moving from left to right across a period.”

9. Proceed through the remainder of the simulation until you have completed it, answering
questions asked of you when prompted. When you have finished the simulation, you may exit
out of the window and use the remainder of the time in the period to work with your lab partner
to answer the questions asked of you in “Analysis & Reporting” below.

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Analysis & Reporting:
The carbonless copies of your notebook (the yellow pages) are due one week after completing this
experiment by 10:15 AM/1:45 PM to the grey Chemistry Undergraduate Drop-Box located outside
of the Undergraduate studies office suite (1219 FFSC near central staircase). In addition to the
assignment requirements outlined in the lab manual introduction and procedure above, including
your Objectives (1 pt), Observations (2 pts) and Data, including completed tables (2 pts), additional
items for this assignment are outlined below.

Discussion (25 points total) – written in paragraph form using correct scientific language,
grammar, and English (1 pt), answer each of the following questions:

 (3 points total) At the beginning of your goal to reconstruct the periodic table
(Progress ~14%), the simulation differentiates the elements into three main classes: metals,
non-metals, and metalloids. Metals are described as, “shiny, ductile, and good conductors
of heat and electricity” and non-metals as “dull and…poor conductors of heat and
electricity.”
o In your own words, what does it mean for a material to be ductile (also sometimes
referred to as malleable)? (1 point)
o Provide an example of an elemental metal displaying ductility/malleability (1 point)
and a non-metallic elemental material failing to display either of these properties (1 point).

 (2 points total) Question 2 of the simulation (Progress ~17%) asks whether testing the
ductility of the uncategorized elements would help you be able to categorize them. What is
a way you could test a material’s ductility (or malleability)?

 (1 point) When you were examining the physical properties of the elemental materials
(Progress ~23%) and recorded your observations, you may have noticed that three of the
four solids—phosphorus, sodium, and calcium—were stored in different liquids while the
fourth, copper, was not. Explain why phosphorus, sodium, and calcium need to be stored
differently than copper does.

 (3 points) Of the three solids, phosphorus was stored in water while the other two, sodium
and calcium, were stored in organic, non-polar solvents, hexane and oil, respectively. Why
are sodium and calcium stored in a different solvent than phosphorus? Why can’t all of
these elemental solids be stored under water? Use chemical equations to support your
answers.

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 (2 points) Use the following two graphics, A and B, to describe what is happening on the
atomic scale when you are carrying out the flame tests. A.)

B.)

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 (1 point) Based on your observations of the different colored flames from the flame test on
the NaCl, CuCl2, and CaCl2 solutions, arrange the metals in order of decreasing energy of
atomic emissions (highest energy emission listed first). Explain how you came to those
conclusions.

 (8 points) Based on your observations of the flame colors for sodium and potassium as
reported by Labster© (including from the data from the “periodic table wall” in the
simulation) as well as the information provided in Table 3 below, what are the most likely
transitions taking place for sodium and potassium during their atomic excitation and
emission processes? Be sure to show all of your calculations—including units!—that you
use to arrive at the answers. Once you have determined the most likely transitions, convert
the energies for these transitions from inverse centimeters to Joules.

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 Table 3: Atomic Energy States for Selected Metal Atoms

Atom Configuration Energy (cm-1)

Na 3s1 0
3p1 16,968
3d1 29,173
4s1 25,740
4p1 30,271

K 4s1 0
4p1 12,985
4d1 27,397
5s1 21,027
5p1 24,701

 (2 points) Why does ionization energy decrease moving down a group?

 (2 points) Question 16 (Progress ~97%) asks which element has the lowest
electronegativity value. What is the element with the highest electronegativity? Describe
why this is slightly different from what you would expect based on periodic trends but why
it actually makes sense.