Merryland International School

Department of chemistry
Periodic table

Periodic Table

A table of the chemical elements arranged in order of atomic number, usually in rows, so that
elements with similar atomic structure (and hence similar chemical properties) appear in vertical
columns.
Classifying Elements & Predicting Properties

 Elements are arranged on the Periodic Table in order of increasing atomic number,
where each element has one proton more than the element preceding it.
 The table is arranged in vertical columns called Groups numbered 1 – 8 and in rows
called Periods.
 Period: these are the horizontal rows that show the number of shells of electrons an
atom has.
o Ex. Elements in Period 2 have two electron shells, elements in Period 3 have
three electron shells
 Group: these are the vertical columns that show how many outer electrons each atom
has.
o Ex. Group 4 elements have atoms with 4 electrons in the outermost shell, Group
6 elements have atoms with 6 electrons in the outermost shell.

All elements are arranged in the order of increasing atomic number from left to right.

Predicting properties using the Periodic table

 Because there are patterns in the way the elements are arranged on the Periodic table,

there are also patterns and trends in the chemical behaviour of the elements.

 There are trends in properties down Groups and across a Period.

 All of the Group I elements, for example, react very quickly with water.

 In this way the Periodic table can be used to predict how a particular element will behave
Horizontal rows in the periodic table are called periods.

The vertical columns in the periodic table are called groups.

From the electronic configuration of an atom, we can find period and group of the element of
that particular atom.

Total number of shells = the period of that element

The number of valence electrons = the group

An atom will be stable, if the valence shell (outer shell) has a stable structure. Except group 8
elements, no other elements have stable structure.
If the valence shell is any other shell
If the valence shell is K shell presence of other than k presence of 8 electrons give
2 electrons give a stable structure a stable structure

Hence atoms will try to get a stable structure by losing its valence electrons or
gaining some electrons or sharing some of its valence electrons with other atom(s)
Valency: It is the number of electrons released, gained or shared by an atom to get a stable
structure.
(The combining power of an element.)

Elements are classified into

Metals : Those elements which lose electrons to get stable structure: group I, II, III and
transition elements. (Except boron)

Non-metals: (Elements which gain or share electrons to get stable structure group 4 to group 8.

NOTE- Group 4 and 5 have non metals at the top and metals at the bottom.

When a metal react with a non-metal, non-metals gain electrons from metals.

When a non-metal reacts with another non-metal they share some of their valence electrons to
attain stability.

Additional information about valency:

When a metal and non-metal reacts each other, metal atoms transfer its valence
electrons to the non-metal atoms. As a result metal atoms will become positive ions and
non-metal atoms will become negative ions.

Which in turn will make an electrostatic force of attraction between the metal atoms and
non-metal atoms .This is called ionic bond.

When two nonmetal atoms share their valence electrons the shared pair of electrons will
get attracted by both nuclei. This attractive force between shared pair of electrons and
both nuclei of nonmetal atoms is called covalent bond.
Periodicity
The chemical property of an element depends on, the number of electrons in their
valence shell.

In the periodic table, chemical properties of the elements will get repeated after regular
intervals. This is called periodicity.

Across a period (left to right of a period) Atomic size decreases

When we move from left to right nuclear charge increases because of the increase in
the numbers of protons.

But electrons are added on the same shell, ie number of shells are not increasing
Hence nuclear force of attraction on shells gradually increases across the period.
So atomic size decreases.

Down the group: Atomic size increases

When we move down the group, nuclear charge increases,

At the same time electrons are added in the different shells,

But the effect of increase in the number of shells overcomes the effect of
increase in the nuclear charge.

Hence atomic size increases down the group.

In the case of metals, down the group reactivity increases

When we go down the group atomic size increases,

So distance between the nucleus and the valence shell increases,

As a result nuclear force of attraction on the valence electrons decreases

So atom can lose electrons easily.

In the case of nonmetals, down the group reactivity decreases

When we go down the group atomic size increases

Hence nuclear attraction on the foreign electron decreases ,

It makes gain of electron difficult,

So reactivity of the nonmetal decreases

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.

From left to right across a period, metallic character decreases because the atomic size
is decreasing, so the nuclear force of attraction between valence electron and the
nucleus get stronger, so the loss of electrons will not be easy.
 Metallic characteristics increase down a group.

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
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.

Alkali metals

Trends in melting point and boiling point

Melting points and boiling points fall as you go down the Group.

Trends in density

First three elements in the Group are less dense than water (less than 1 g cm -3). That
means the first three will float on water, while the other two sink.
Group I metals are also called as alkali metals.

Group 1 metals are lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium and francium

They all contain just one electron in their outer shell.

Physical properties of the Group I metals

 Are soft and easy to cut, getting softer and denser as you move down the Group
(sodium and potassium do not follow the trend in density).
 Have shiny silvery surfaces when freshly cut.
 Conduct heat and electricity.
 They all have low melting points and low densities and the melting
point decreases as you move down the Group.

Chemical properties of the Group I metals

Since group 1 metals quickly react with oxygen and water vapour in the air, they are
kept under oil

Group 1 metals will react similarly with water, reacting vigorously to produce
an alkaline metal hydroxide solution and hydrogen gas.

Trend in reactivity of group I metal - Down the group, reactivity of the metal
increases.
Reaction of first group metals with cold water

Comparison of reactivity of various elements in the group I with cold water

Lithium Slow at 250C

sodium Vigorous

potassium More vigorous and inflames

Rubidium Explosive

Caesium Explosive

francium Highly explosive

GROUP VII ELEMENTS

The group VII elements are also called

halogens. (Halogens= salt forming) They are

(fluorine - F, chlorine – Cl, bromine – Br,

Iodine – I, astatine – At)

These are the Group 7 non-metals that are poisonous and include fluorine, chlorine,
bromine, iodine and astatine

Halogens are diatomic, meaning they form molecules of two atoms

All halogens have seven electrons in their outer shell.

 Atomic Physical
Element Symbol Colour
number structure

Fluorine F 9 Gas Pale yellow

Chlorine Cl 17 Gas Pale green

Bromine Br 35 Liquid Reddish brown

Iodine I 53 Solid Greyish black

Astatine At 85 Solid Dark grey

The reactivity of the elements decreases from F to At.

Trends in physical properties of the halogens

Melting point

 The density and melting and boiling points of the halogens increase as you go
down the Group.

State at room temperature

 At room temperature (20 °C), the physical state of the halogens changes as you
go down the Group.
 Chlorine is a gas, bromine is a liquid and iodine is a solid

Colour

 The halogens become darker as you go down the group.

 Chlorine is pale green, bromine is reddish-brown and iodine is greyish-black.

Single displacement reactions of halogens

A more reactive halogen can displace a less reactive halogen from the aqueous
solution of its compound.

Example:

Chlorine and bromine

 If you add chlorine solution to colourless potassium bromide solution, the solution
becomes orange as bromine is formed
 Chlorine is above bromine in Group 7 so is more reactive.
 Chlorine will therefore displace bromine from an aqueous solution of metal
bromide

Potassium Bromide + Chlorine → Potassium Chloride + Bromine

2KBr + Cl2 → 2KCl + Br2

Bromine and iodine

 Bromine is above iodine in Group 7 so is more reactive

 Bromine will therefore displace iodine from an aqueous solution of metal iodide

Bromine + Magnesium Iodide → Magnesium Bromide + Iodine

Br2 + 2MgI → 2MgBr + I2

Reaction of halogens with metals

When a halogen reacts with a metal we get metal halides

Sodium + chlorine sodium chloride

Transition metals

The elements which are found in between group 2 and group 3 are called are called
transition elements. Even though they are not in the same group they show some
similarities in their properties.

Physical properties of transition elements

They are very hard.

They have very high melting point and boiling point.

They have very high densities.

Chemical properties of transition elements

They show variable valencies.

They form coloured compounds.

Most of the transition elements act as catalysts.

Uses of the transition elements

The transition elements are used extensively as catalysts

They are used in medicine and surgical applications such as limb and joint replacement
(titanium is often used for this as it can bond with bones due to its high biocompatibility)
They are also used to form coloured compounds in dyes and paints,
stained glass jewellery.

Noble Gases

The Noble gases

The Noble gases are in Group VIII (or Group O) and have
very low melting and boiling points.

They are all monatomic, colourless gases.

The Group 0 elements all have full outer shells.

This electronic configuration is extremely stable so these elements are unreactive and
are inert.

Uses of the Noble gases

Helium is used for filling balloons and weather balloons as it is less dense than air and
does not burn.

Neon, argon and xenon are used in advertising signs.

Argon is used to provide an inert atmosphere for welding.

Argon is also used to fill electric light bulbs as it is inert.