Atomic structure refers to the structure of an atom comprising a 

nucleus (centre) in which
the protons (positively charged) and neutrons (neutral) are present. The negatively charged
particles called electrons revolve around the centre of the nucleus.
The history of atomic structure and quantum mechanics dates back to the times of Democritus, the
man who first proposed that matter is composed of atoms. The study about the structure of an atom
gives a great insight into the entire class of chemical reactions, bonds and their physical properties.
The first scientific theory of atomic structure was proposed by John Dalton in the 1800s.

What is Atomic Structure?

The atomic structure of an element refers to the constitution of its nucleus and the arrangement of
the electrons around it. Primarily, the atomic structure of matter is made up of protons, electrons and
neutrons.
The protons and neutrons make up the nucleus of the atom, which is surrounded by the electrons
belonging to the atom. The atomic number of an element describes the total number of protons in
its nucleus.

Neutral atoms have equal numbers of protons and electrons. However, atoms may gain or lose
electrons in order to increase their stability and the resulting charged entity is called an ion.
Atoms of different elements have different atomic structures because they contain different numbers
of protons and electrons. This is the reason for the unique characteristics of different elements.
Atomic Models
In the 18th and 19th centuries, many scientists attempted to explain the structure of the atom with
the help of atomic models. Each of these models had their own merits and demerits and were pivotal
to the development of the modern atomic model. The most notable contributions to the field were
by the scientists John Dalton, J.J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr. Their ideas on the
structure of the atom are discussed in this subsection.

Dalton’s Atomic Theory

The English chemist John Dalton suggested that all matter is made up of atoms, which were
indivisible and indestructible. He also stated that all the atoms of an element were exactly the same,
but the atoms of different elements differ in size and mass.
Chemical reactions, according to Dalton’s atomic theory, involve a rearrangement of atoms to form
products. According to the postulates proposed by Dalton, the atomic structure comprised atoms,
the smallest particle responsible for the chemical reactions to occur.
The following are the postulates of his theory:

 Every matter is made up of atoms.

 Atoms are indivisible.
 Specific elements have only one type of atoms in them.
 Each atom has its own constant mass that varies from element to element.
 Atoms undergo rearrangement during a chemical reaction.
 Atoms can neither be created nor be destroyed but can be transformed from one form to
another.
Dalton’s atomic theory successfully explained the Laws of chemical reactions, namely, the Law of
conservation of mass, Law of constant properties, Law of multiple proportions and Law of reciprocal
proportions.

Demerits of Dalton’s Atomic Theory

 The theory was unable to explain the existence of isotopes.
 Nothing about the structure of atom was appropriately explained.
 Later, the scientists discovered particles inside the atom that proved, the atoms are divisible.
The discovery of particles inside atoms led to a better understanding of chemical species, these
particles inside the atoms are called subatomic particles. The discovery of various subatomic
particles is as follows:

Thomson Atomic Model

The English chemist Sir Joseph John Thomson put forth his model describing the atomic structure in
the early 1900s.
He was later awarded the Nobel prize for the discovery of “electrons”. His work is based on an
experiment called cathode ray experiment. The construction of working of the experiment is as
follows:

Cathode Ray Experiment

It has a tube made of glass which has two openings, one for the vacuum pump and the other for the
inlet through which a gas is pumped in.

The role of the vacuum pump is to maintain “partial vacuum” inside the glass chamber. A high
voltage power supply is connected using electrodes i.e. cathode and Anode is fitted inside the glass
tube.

Observations:

 When a high voltage power supply is switched on, there were rays emerging from the
cathode towards the anode. This was confirmed by the ‘Fluorescent spots’ on the ZnS
screen used. These rays were called “Cathode Rays”.
 When an external electric field is applied, the cathode rays get deflected towards the positive
electrode, but in the absence of electric field, they travel in a straight line.
 When rotor Blades are placed in the path of the cathode rays, they seem to rotate. This
proves that the cathode rays are made up of particles of a certain mass, so that they have
 some energy.

 With all this evidence, Thompson concluded that cathode rays are made of negatively
charged particles called “electrons”.
 On applying the electric and magnetic field upon the cathode rays (electrons), Thomson
found the charge to mass ratio (e/m) of electrons. (e/m) for electron: 17588 × 10 11 e/bg.
From this ratio, the charge of the electron was found by Mullikin through oil drop experiment.
[Charge of e– = 1.6 × 10-16 C and Mass of e– = 9.1093 × 10-31 kg].

Conclusions:
Based on conclusions from his cathode ray experiment, Thomson described the atomic structure as
a positively charged sphere into which negatively charged electrons were embedded.
It is commonly referred to as the “plum pudding model” because it can be visualized as a plum
pudding dish where the pudding describes the positively charged atom and the plum pieces describe
the electrons.
Thomson’s atomic structure described atoms as electrically neutral, i.e. the positive and the negative
charges were of equal magnitude.
Limitations of Thomson’s Atomic Structure: Thomson’s atomic model does not clearly explain
the stability of an atom. Also, further discoveries of other subatomic particles, couldn’t be placed
inside his atomic model.

Rutherford Atomic Theory

Rutherford, a student of J. J. Thomson modified the atomic structure with the discovery of
another subatomic particle called “Nucleus”. His atomic model is based on the Alpha ray
scattering experiment.

Alpha Ray Scattering Experiment

Construction:

 A very thin gold foil of 1000 atoms thick is taken.

 Alpha rays (doubly charged Helium He2+) were made to bombard the gold foil.
 Zn S screen is placed behind the gold foil.

Observations:

 Most of the rays just went through the gold foil making scintillations (bright spots) in
the ZnS screen.
 A few rays got reflected after hitting the gold foil.
 One in 1000 rays got reflected by an angle of 180° (retraced path) after hitting the gold foil.

Conclusions:

 Since most rays passed through, Rutherford concluded that most of the space inside the
atom is empty.
 Few rays got reflected because of the repulsion of its positive with some other positive
charge inside the atom.
 1/1000th of rays got strongly deflected because of a very strong positive charge in the center
of the atom. He called this strong positive charge as “nucleus”.
 He said most of the charge and mass of the atom resides in the Nucleus

Rutherford’s Structure of Atom

Based on the above observations and conclusions, Rutherford proposed his own atomic
structure which is as follows.

 The nucleus is at the center of an atom, where most of the charge and mass are
concentrated.
 Atomic structure is spherical.
 Electrons revolve around the nucleus in a circular orbit, similar to the way planets orbit the
sun.

Limitations of Rutherford Atomic Model

 If electrons have to revolve around the nucleus, they will spend energy and that too against
the strong force of attraction from the nucleus, a lot of energy will be spent by the electrons
and eventually, they will lose all their energy and will fall into the nucleus so the stability of
atom is not explained.
 If electrons continuously revolve around the ‘nucleus, the type of spectrum expected is a
continuous spectrum. But in reality, what we see is a line spectrum.
Subatomic Particles

Protons
 Protons are positively charged subatomic particles. The charge of a proton is 1e, which
corresponds to approximately 1.602 × 10-19
 The mass of a proton is approximately 1.672 × 10-24
 Protons are over 1800 times heavier than electrons.
 The total number of protons in the atoms of an element is always equal to the atomic number
of the element.

Neutrons
 The mass of a neutron is almost the same as that of a proton i.e. 1.674×10 -24
 Neutrons are electrically neutral particles and carry no charge.
 Different isotopes of an element have the same number of protons but vary in the number of
neutrons present in their respective nuclei.

Electrons
 The charge of an electron is -1e, which approximates to -1.602 × 10 -19
 The mass of an electron is approximately 9.1 × 10-31.
 Due to the relatively negligible mass of electrons, they are ignored when calculating the
mass of an atom.

Atomic Structure of Isotopes

Nucleons are the components of the nucleus of an atom. A nucleon can either be a proton or a
neutron. Each element has a unique number of protons in it, which is described by its unique atomic
number. However, several atomic structures of an element can exist, which differ in the total number
of nucleons.
These variants of elements having a different nucleon number (also known as the mass number) are
called isotopes of the element. Therefore, the isotopes of an element have the same number of
protons but differ in the number of neutrons.
The atomic structure of an isotope is described with the help of the chemical symbol of the element,
the atomic number of the element, and the mass number of the isotope. For example, there exist
three known naturally occurring isotopes of hydrogen, namely, protium, deuterium, and tritium. The
atomic structures of these hydrogen isotopes are illustrated below.
The isotopes of an element vary in stability. The half-lives of isotopes also differ. However, they
generally have similar chemical behavior owing to the fact that they hold the same electronic
structures.

4,19,024

Atomic Structures of Some Elements

The structure of atom of an element can be simply represented via the total number of protons,
electrons, and neutrons present in it. The atomic structures of a few elements are illustrated below.

Hydrogen
The most abundant isotope of hydrogen on the planet Earth is protium. The atomic number and the
mass number of this isotope are 1 and 1, respectively.
Structure of Hydrogen atom: This implies that it contains one proton, one electron, and no
neutrons ( total number of neutrons = mass number – atomic number)

Carbon
Carbon has two stable isotopes – 12C and 13C. Of these isotopes, 12C has an abundance of
98.9%. It contains 6 protons, 6 electrons, and 6 neutrons.
Structure of Carbon atom: The electrons are distributed into two shells and the outermost shell
(valence shell) has four electrons. The tetravalency of carbon enables it to form a variety of chemical
bonds with various elements.

Oxygen
There exist three stable isotopes of oxygen – 18O, 17O, and 16O. However, oxygen-16 is the most
abundant isotope.
Structure of Oxygen atom: Since the atomic number of this isotope is 8 and the mass number is
16, it consists of 8 protons and 8 neutrons. 6 out of the 8 electrons in an oxygen atom lie in the
valence shell.

Bohr’s Atomic Theory

Neils Bohr put forth his model of the atom in the year 1915. This is the most widely used atomic
model to describe the atomic structure of an element which is based on Planck’s theory of
quantization.

Postulates:
 The electrons inside atoms are placed in discrete orbits called “stationery orbits”.
 The energy levels of these shells can be represented via quantum numbers.
 Electrons can jump to higher levels by absorbing energy and move to lower energy levels by
losing or emitting its energy.
 As longs as, an electron stays in its own stationery, there will be no absorption or emission of
energy.
 Electrons revolve around the nucleus in these stationery orbits only.
 The energy of the stationary orbits is quantized.

Limitations of Bohr’s Atomic Theory:

  Bohr’s atomic structure works only for single electron species such as H, He+, Li2+, Be3+,
….
 When the emission spectrum of hydrogen was observed under a more accurate
spectrometer, each line spectrum was seen to be a combination of no of smaller discrete
lines.
 Both Stark and Zeeman effects couldn’t be explain using Bohr’s theory.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle: Heisenberg stated that no two conjugate physical quantities
can be measured simultaneously with 100% accuracy. These will always be some error or
uncertainty in the measurement.
Drawback: Position and momentum are two such conjugate quantities which were measured
accurately by Bohr (theoretically).
Stark effect: Phenomenon of deflection of electrons in the presence of an electric field.
Zeeman effect: Phenomenon of deflection of electrons in the presence of a magnetic field.

Dual Nature of Matter

The electrons which were treated to be particles, the evidence of photoelectric effect shows they
also have wave nature. This was proved by Thomas young with the help of his double slit
experiment.
De-Broglie concluded that since nature is symmetrical, so should be light or any other matter wave.

Quantum Numbers
 Principal Quantum number (n): It denotes the orbital number or shell number of electron.
 Azimuthal Quantum numbers (l): It denotes the orbital (sub-orbit) of the electron.
 Magnetic Quantum number: It denotes the number of energy states in each orbit.
 Spin Quantum number(s): It denotes the direction of spin, S = -½ = Anticlockwise and ½ =
Clockwise.

Electronic Configuration of an Atom

The electrons have to be filled in the s, p, d, f in accordance with the following rule.
1. Aufbau’s principle: The filling of electrons should take place in accordance with the ascending
order of energy of orbitals:

 Lower energy orbital should be filled first and higher energy levels.
 The energy of orbital α(p + l) value it two orbitals have same (n + l) value, E α n
 Ascending order of energy 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d, . . .
2. Pauli’s exclusion principle: No two electrons can have all the four quantum numbers to be the
same or, if two electrons have to placed in an energy state they should be placed with opposite
spies.
3. Hund’s rule of maximum multiplicity: In case of filling degenerate (same energy) orbitals, all
the degenerate orbitals have to be singly filled first and then only pairing has to happen.
What are subatomic particles?
Subatomic particles are the particles that constitute an atom. Generally, this term refers to protons,
electrons, and neutrons.

How do the atomic structures of isotopes vary?

They vary in terms of the total number of neutrons present in the nucleus of the atom, which is
described by their nucleon numbers.

What are the shortcomings of Bohr’s atomic model?

According to this atomic model, the structure of atom offers poor spectral predictions for larger
atoms. It also failed to explain the Zeeman effect. It could only successfully explain the hydrogen
spectrum.

How can the total number of neutrons in the nucleus of a given isotope
be determined?
The mass number of an isotope is given by the sum of the total number of protons and neutrons in it.
The atomic number describes the total number of protons in the nucleus. Therefore, the number of
neutrons can be determined by subtracting the atomic number from the mass number.

Trends Across The Periodic

Table Explained
1. Force of Attraction

 Definition: How much the outer electrons (-) are

attracted to the nucleus (+)
 Increases going up periodic table because there is one
fewer energy level of electrons that will separate the outer
electrons from the nucleus

 Increases going right across periodic table because

the nucleus gains protons and the atom has the same
number of energy levels as you move across a period

2. Shielding Effect

 Definition: How much the outer electrons are repelled

by inner electrons (negative repels negative), and also
describes how much control the nucleus has on outer
electrons

 Increases going down periodic table because there is

an extra energy level of electrons that will shield the outer
electrons from the nucleus

 Increases slightly going left on periodic table because

the nucleus loses protons and the atom has the same
number of energy levels as you move across a period

3. Atomic Radius

 Definition: A measure of a neutral atom’s size based on the

radius of its volume as a sphere

 Increases going down because there are more energy levels

of electrons and therefore more shielding
 Increases going left because as you move across a period
right-to-left, an atom loses a positively charged proton and
therefore its electrons become slightly less tight and
compact

4. Ionic Radius

 Definition: Same as atomic radius, but for the size of a

charged ion, not a neutral atom

 Increases for anions (-) because they gain an electron,

which leads to more shielding

 Decreases for cations (+) because they lose an electron,

which means less shielding

5. First Ionization Energy

 Definition: The amount of energy needed to remove an

outer electron from an atom and make it into an ion

 Increases going right because there are more protons in

the nucleus pulling in electrons, so it requires more
energy to remove an outer electron

 Increases going up because there are fewer energy levels

and less shielding, so the outer electrons are more
tightly held by the nucleus

6. Metallic Character/Metallic Reactivity

 Definition: The tendency of an atom to lose an
electron (a key characteristic of metals is they lose
electrons to become cations)

 Increases going left because metals are on the left side of

the periodic table and they have fewer protons in their
nucleus that are holding in the atom’s electrons

 Increases going down because there is more shielding, so

outer electrons are easier to lose

7. Non-Metal Reactivity/Electron Affinity

 Definition: The tendency of an atom to gain an

electron (a key characteristic of non-metals is they gain
electrons to become anions)

 Increases going right because non-metals are on the

right side of the periodic table and they have more
protons in their nucleus that attract outer electrons

 Increases going up because there are less electron energy

levels and therefore a greater attraction to the
nucleus for electrons

 ***Fluorine has greatest non-metal

reactivity because noble gases are not included due to
the fact that they have a full shell of valence electrons and
cannot gain more or react
8. Electronegativity

 Definition: The tendency of an atom to attract a shared

electron in a chemical bond

 Increases going right because there are more protons in

the nucleus attracting outer electrons

 Increases going up because there are fewer energy

levels of electrons shielding/repelling new outer electrons

 ***Fluorine has greatest

electronegativity because noble gases are not
included due to the fact that they have a full shell of valence
electrons and cannot attract more

Periodic trends are specific patterns that are present in the periodic table that illustrate different
aspects of a certain element, including its size and its electronic properties. Major periodic trends
include: electronegativity, ionization energy, electron affinity, atomic radius, melting point,
and metallic character. Periodic trends, arising from the arrangement of the periodic table,
provide chemists with an invaluable tool to quickly predict an element's properties. These trends
exist because of the similar atomic structure of the elements within their respective group
families or periods, and because of the periodic nature of the elements.

Electronegativity Trends
Electronegativity can be understood as a chemical property describing an atom's ability to attract
and bind with electrons. Because electronegativity is a qualitative property, there is no
standardized method for calculating electronegativity. However, the most common scale for
quantifying electronegativity is the Pauling scale (Table A2), named after the chemist Linus
Pauling. The numbers assigned by the Pauling scale are dimensionless due to the qualitative
nature of electronegativity. Electronegativity values for each element can be found on certain
periodic tables. An example is provided below.
Figure 11: Periodic Table of Electronegativity values

Electronegativity measures an atom's tendency to attract and form bonds with electrons. This
property exists due to the electronic configuration of atoms. Most atoms follow the octet rule
(having the valence, or outer, shell comprise of 8 electrons). Because elements on the left side of
the periodic table have less than a half-full valence shell, the energy required to gain electrons is
significantly higher compared with the energy required to lose electrons. As a result, the
elements on the left side of the periodic table generally lose electrons when forming bonds.
Conversely, elements on the right side of the periodic table are more energy-efficient in gaining
electrons to create a complete valence shell of 8 electrons. The nature of electronegativity is
effectively described thus: the more inclined an atom is to gain electrons, the more likely that
atom will pull electrons toward itself.

 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.

According to these two general trends, the most electronegative element is fluorine, with 3.98
Pauling units.
Figure 22: Periodic Table showing Electronegativity Trend

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. Therefore, the higher this energy is, the more
unlikely it is the atom becomes a cation. Generally, elements on the right side of the periodic
table have a higher ionization energy because their valence shell is nearly filled. Elements on the
left side of the periodic table have low ionization energies because of their willingness to lose
electrons and become cations. Thus, ionization energy increases from left to right on the periodic
table.
Figure 33: Graph showing the Ionization Energy of the Elements from Hydrogen to Argon

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.

Trends
 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.

Some elements have several ionization energies; these varying energies are referred to as the first
ionization energy, the second ionization energy, third ionization energy, etc. The first ionization
energy is the energy requiredto remove the outermost, or highest, energy electron, the second
ionization energy is the energy required to remove any subsequent high-energy electron from a
gaseous cation, etc. Below are the chemical equations describing the first and second ionization
energies:

First Ionization Energy:

 X(g)→X+(g)+e−(1)(1)X(g)→X(g)++e−

Second Ionization Energy:

X+(g)→X2+(g)+e−(2)(2)X(g)+→X(g)2++e−

Generally, any subsequent ionization energies (2nd, 3rd, etc.) follow the same periodic trend as
the first ionization energy.

Figure 44: Periodic Table Showing Ionization Energy Trend

Ionization energies decrease as atomic radii increase. This observation is affected by nn (the
principal quantum number) and ZeffZeff (based on the atomic number and shows how many
protons are seen in the atom) on the ionization energy (I). The relationship is given by the
following equation:

I=RHZ2effn2(3)(3)I=RHZeff2n2
 Across a period, ZeffZeff increases and n (principal quantum number) remains the same,
so the ionization energy increases.
 Down a group, nn increases and ZeffZeff increases slightly; the ionization
energy decreases.

Electron Affinity Trends

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.

Figure 55: Periodic Table showing Electron Affinity Trend

Electron affinity generally decreases down a group of elements because each atom is larger than
the atom above it (this is the atomic radius trend, discussed below). This means that an added
electron is further away from the atom's nucleus compared with its position in the smaller atom.
With a larger distance between the negatively-charged electron and the positively-charged
nucleus, the force of attraction is relatively weaker. Therefore, electron affinity decreases.
Moving from left to right across a period, atoms become smaller as the forces of attraction
become stronger. This causes the electron to move closer to the nucleus, thus increasing the
electron affinity from left to right across a period.

 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.

Atomic Radius Trends

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). However, this idea is complicated by the fact that not all atoms are
normally bound together in the same way. Some are bound by covalent bonds in molecules,
some are attracted to each other in ionic crystals, and others are held in metallic crystals.
Nevertheless, it is possible for a vast majority of elements to form covalent molecules in which
two like atoms are held together by a single covalent bond. The covalent radii of these molecules
are often referred to as atomic radii. This distance is measured in picometers. Atomic radius
patterns are observed throughout the periodic table.

Atomic size gradually decreases from left to right across a period of elements. This is because,
within a period or family of elements, all electrons are added to the same shell. However, at the
same time, protons are being added to the nucleus, making it more positively charged. The effect
of increasing proton number is greater than that of the increasing electron number; therefore,
there is a greater nuclear attraction. This means that the nucleus attracts the electrons more
strongly, pulling the atom's shell closer to the nucleus. The valence electrons are held closer
towards the nucleus of the atom. As a result, the atomic radius decreases.

Figure 66: Periodic Table showing Atomic Radius Trend

Down a group, atomic radius increases. The valence electrons occupy higher levels due to the
increasing quantum number (n). As a result, the valence electrons are further away from the
nucleus as ‘n’ increases. Electron shielding prevents these outer electrons from being attracted to
the nucleus; thus, they are loosely held, and the resulting atomic radius is large.

 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.
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. However, certain
conclusions can be drawn from Figure 77.

 Metals generally possess a high melting point.

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

Figure 77: Chart of Melting Points of Various Elements

Metallic Character Trends

The metallic character of an element can be defined as how readily an atom can lose an electron.
From right to left across a period, metallic character increases because the attraction between
valence electron and the nucleus is weaker, enabling an easier loss of electrons. Metallic
character increases as you move down a group because the atomic size is increasing. When the
atomic size increases, the outer shells are farther away. The principal quantum number increases
and average electron density moves farther from nucleus. The electrons of the valence shell have
less attraction to the nucleus and, as a result, can lose electrons more readily. This causes an
increase in metallic character.
  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.

Another easier way to remember the trend of metallic character is that moving left and down
toward the bottom-left corner of the periodic table, metallic character increases toward Groups 1
and 2, or the alkali and alkaline earth metal groups. Likewise, moving up and to the right to the
upper-right corner of the periodic table, metallic character decreases because you are passing by
to the right side of the staircase, which indicate the nonmetals. These include the Group 8,
the noble gases, and other common gases such as oxygen and nitrogen.

 In other words:
 Move left across period and down the group: increase metallic character (heading
towards alkali and alkaline metals)
 Move right across period and up the group: decrease metallic character (heading towards
nonmetals like noble gases)

Figure 88: Periodic Table of Metallic Character Trend