Science Notes

Dmitri Mendeleev: Creator of the periodic table, part of the Russian Chemical Society

Francium: World’s most expensive element (1 billion dollars per gram)

J: The only letter not in the periodic table

The newest version of the periodic table has 118 elements, and the newest 4 elements are
Nihonium(Nh, 113), Moscovium(Mc, 115), Tennessine(Ts, 117), Oganesson(118, Og)

- Atomic numbers larger than 112 are called super heavy elements.
- More radioactive and unstable than elements
- It doesn’t occur in nature and just created in laboratories.
- Scientists use machines called particle accelerators to make ions crash into each other so they
only exist for a fraction of a second.

Periodic Table: Shows all known elements in the universe

: Organizes the elements by chemical properties

Key to the periodic table

- Elements are organized on the table according to their atomic number

Atomic Number: Refers to how many protons an atom of that element has. No 2 elements have the
same number of protons.

Atomic Mass: Refers to the weight of the atom. It is derived by adding the number of protons with the
number of neutrons.

Valence Electrons: The electrons in the outer energy level of an atom. The electrons that are transferred
or shared when atoms bond together.

Periods: Period are rows, go from left to right.

What do elements in a row have in common? They have the same number of electron shells.

Period 1 has 1 shell for its electrons, period 2 has 2 shells and so on…

Groups: Also called families, are columns.

What do elements in a group have in common? The same number of valence electrons.

Group 1 has 1 valence, group 2 has 2, group 13 has 3, group 14 has 4

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The elements of the periodic table can be divided into three main categories. Metals, Non-Metals, and
Metalloids.
Metals

- Good conductors of heat and electricity

- Ductile (stretchy)
- Malleable (poundable)
- It corrodes when it touches water

Non-Metals

- Poor conductors of heat and electricity

- Not ductile or malleable
- Brittle and weak
- Dull
- Mostly gas

Metalloids

- Have properties of both metals and non-metals.

- Solids that can be shiny or dull
- Conduct heat and electricity better than non-metals but not as well as metalloids
- Ductile and Malleable
Electron Configuration

- The arrangement of electrons in the orbital of an atom

- Described by a number that designates the number of the principal shell
- A letter that designates the subshell
- A superscript that designates the number of electrons in that particular subshell

1s1

Blue = Energy Level

Red = Type of Orbital

Black = Number of electrons

Energy Levels

- Used to indicate the principal quantum in the valence electrons

Sharp = 2 electrons Fundamental = 14 electrons

Principal = 6 electrons SPDF

Diffuse = 10 electrons 2.6.10.14

Valence Electrons

- Electrons found in the subshell of the highest principal quantum

Rules for electron configuration

1. Aufbau Principle
- Formulated by Danish physicist Niels Bohr
- An application of the laws of quantum mechanics to the properties of electrons.
- Electrons in an atom occupy first the lowest possible energy levels and/or orbitals
2. Pauli Exclusion Principle
- Discovered by Wolfgang Pauli, an Austrian Nobel Prize Winner
- No 2 electrons in the same atom can have the same set of 4 quantum numbers
3. Hund’s rule
- Discovered by Friedrich Hund (German Physicist) in 1925
- All subshells in an orbital must be singly occupied before any subshell is doubly occupied