Chapter 3: Periodic Table (SUEC)

3.1 Electronic configuration and the Periodic Table

- The elements in the Periodic Table can be divided into four blocks depending on their
valence shell electronic configuration.

- They are the s-block, p-block, d-block and f-block elements.

- All elements in the same group have the same number of valence electrons with similar
electronic configuration.

The s-block elements

- Consists of elements from Group 1 and Group 2.

- Group 1 elements (alkaline metal) have one valence electron in the outermost orbital
with the configuration of s1.

- Group 2 elements (alkaline earth metal) have two electrons in the outermost orbital
with the configuration of s2.

The p-block elements

- Elements of Group 13 to Group 18 are known as the p-block elements because the
outermost orbitals that are filled with electrons are the p orbitals.

- They have valence shell electronic configuration of s2p1 to s2p6

The d-block elements (transition element)

- Elements of Group 3 to Group 12 are known as d-block elements.

- They have valence shell electronic configuration of d1s2 to d10s2

- They are typical metals with very high melting points and boiling points.

Sr1 Chemistry SUEC 2020 1 Chap 3: Periodic Table

The f-block elements

- Elements with proton number 58-71 (known as lanthanides) and from 90-103 (known
as actinides) are f-block elements.

- They have valence shell electronic configuration of f1d10s2 to f14d10s2

Valence shell configuration from the periodic table

- Most chemical reactions involve only the valence shell electrons. Hence, the valence
shell configuration of an element is important in predicting the chemical properties of
an element.

- The group number of an element indicates the number of valence electrons while
the period number indicates the outermost principle shell that if filled with
electrons.

- For example: aluminium (Z = 13) is in Group 13 (IIIA) and Period 3.

➢ This means the outermost energy level that is filled with electrons is the 3rd shell,
and it has 3 valence electrons (not 13).

➢ Hence, its valence shell configuration is 3s23p1

Sr1 Chemistry SUEC 2020 2 Chap 3: Periodic Table

 Test yourself 1

Write the valence shell electronic configuration of the following elements.

Valence shell electronic

Element Group number
X 17
Y 1
Z 18
Period number
configuration
4 4s24p5
6 6s1
2 2s22p6

3.2 Atomic radius and ionic radius

- The atomic radius is half the distance the nuclei of two atoms of a metallic element.

- For molecular elements, the atomic radius is half the distance between the nuclei of
the two atoms joined by covalent bond.

- Atomic radius depends on two major factors:

(a) The nuclear charge

➢ The higher the nuclear charge, the stronger the attraction between the nucleus and
the electron cloud, cause the atomic size to decrease.

(b) The screening effect

➢ Depends on number of shells that are filled with electrons.

➢ Inner electrons can effectively screen the outer electrons from the pull of nucleus
➢ Increasing screening effect causes the size of the atoms to increase.

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Variation of atomic radius across a period

- For atoms in the same period, the number of protons and electrons increase by one each.
However, each additional electron is added to the same shell, hence, the screening
effect does not change much.

- However, the increasing nuclear charge will exert a stronger attraction between the
nucleus and electron cloud, causing the atomic size to decrease.

- Atoms of Period 3 elements are bigger than the corresponding elements in Period 2
because they have one extra inner shell that is filled with electrons, increasing the
screening effect.

Variation of atomic radius going down a group

- Going down the group, both the nuclear

charge and the screening effect
increase.

- However, the increase in the screening

effect is larger than the increase in
nuclear charge, leads to a decrease in
the effective nuclear charge.

- The attraction between the nucleus and

the electron cloud gets weaker, causing
atomic size to increase.

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Variation of ionic radius across Period 3
- The ionic radius is the radius of a cation or an anion.

- The anions are all larger than the cations because the anions have one extra shell filled
with electrons compared to the cations.

Ion Na+ Mg2+ Al3+ P3- S2- Cl-

Ionic radius(nm) 0.095 0.065 0.050 0.212 0.184 0.181

- The cation size decreases with increasing proton number.

- Because all the cations have 10 electrons but the number of protons increases from 11 to
13. Hence attraction between the nucleus and the electron increases.

- The same applies to the anions.

Variation of ionic radius down a group

- Going down group, each successive ion
has one extra shell filled with electrons.

- The increase in screening effect causes

the ionic size to increase.

Sr1 Chemistry SUEC 2020 5 Chap 3: Periodic Table

 Test yourself 2

1. Arrange the following species in order of increasing size

(a) N, N3- ______________ N< N3- ____________

(b) Fe, Fe2+, Fe3+ _________ Fe3+ < Fe2+ < Fe ______________________

2. Predict which ion in the following pairs has a bigger size.

(a) N3- and F- _______________________________

(b) Mg2+ and K+ _______________________________

Answer:

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3.3 Electronegativity

- Electronegativity of an element is a measure of the ability of the atom to attract the

electrons in a covalent bond to which it is bonded.

- Electronegativity
(a) increases across a period
(b) decrease down a group

- Going across a period from left to right, the atomic size decreases, while the nuclear charge
increases.
➢ the attraction for electrons become stronger and the electronegativity increases.

- Going down a group, the atomic size increases while the effective nuclear charge decreases.
➢ the attraction for electrons become weaker and the electronegativity decreases.

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3.3 Ionisation energy

- The first ionisation energy of an element is the minimum energy required to remove one
electron from the outermost orbital of every atom in 1 mol of free gaseous atoms to form
1 mol of unipositive gaseous ions, under standard conditions.

M(g) → M+ (g) + e ∆H = first ionisation energy

M+ (g) → M2+ (g) + e ∆H = second ionisation energy

Factors affecting the ionisation energy

- The ease in removing an electron from an atom or ion depends on the attraction between
the nucleus and the electron

- Ionisation energy depends on the factors:

(a) The distance between the nucleus and the electron (i.e. atomic size)

➢ The attraction between the nucleus and electrons decreases with increasing distance
between them.
➢ Hence, the larger the size of an atom or ion, the lower the ionisation energy.

(b) The nuclear charge (i.e number of protons)

➢ The higher the nuclear charge, the stronger is the attraction between the nucleus and
the electrons. This causes the ionisation energy to increase.

(c) The screening effect

➢ When the number of inner shells that are filled with electrons increases, the valence
electrons are more shielded from the attraction of the nucleus.
➢ The repulsion between the inner electron shells will cause the atomic size to increase.
Hence, increasing screening effect will decrease the ionisation energy.

Trend of ionisation energy across a period

Sr1 Chemistry SUEC 2020 8 Chap 3: Periodic Table

 - There is a general increase in the first ionisation energy with increasing proton
numbers for elements of Period 2 and 3.

- Going across a period from left to right, the atomic size decreases, the nuclear charge
increases, but the screening effect remains almost the same. Therefore, the electrons are
more tightly bound to nucleus and are more difficult to be removed.

- However, the increase is not uniform. The first ionisation energy of Be (period 2) and
Mg (Period 3) is higher than expected. This is because the first electron to be removed
from these atoms are from a fully filled s orbital:

Be: 1s2 2s2

Mg: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2

- The s2 configuration has greater stability thus making electron more difficult to be
removed than expected.

- The first ionisation energy of nitrogen (Period 2) and phosphorus (Period 3) is higher
than expected because the first electron removed from a completely half-filled p
orbital which also has greater stability.

N: 1s22s22p3
P: 1s22s22p63s23p3

- The first ionisation energy of Period 2 elements is higher than their corresponding
Period 3 elements because Period 2 elements are smaller in size than Period 3 elements.

Trend of ionisation energy down a group

- Going down a group, atomic size

increases while the effective nuclear
charge decreases. The attraction between
the nucleus and the electrons become
weaker.
- Hence, the first ionisation energy
decreases down the group.

Sr1 Chemistry SUEC 2020 9 Chap 3: Periodic Table

 Chapter 3: Exercise (SUEC)
1. An element has the electronic configuration 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d105s25p5

a) Which block in the Periodic Table down this element belongs to? ____________________

b) Which group does it belong to? ______________________________

c) Identify this element. ________________________________

2. Element X has the electronic configuration 1s22s22p63s23p63d84s2

a) Which block in the Periodic Table does element X belong to? ____________________

b) State the maximum number of electrons in a d subshell. _________________________

c) Element X forms an ion with charge +2

d) Write the full electronic configuration for this ion.

_______________________________________________________________________

3. The table below gives some data for the Period 3 elements.

(a) Define the term first ionisation energy.

The energy required to remove one mole of electrons from one mole of atoms in
the gas state to make one mole of ions in gas state, each with single positive charge.

(b) Describe and explain the general trend of in first ionisation energy from left to right of
Period 3.
From left to right, the first ionisation energy increases. The increasing nuclear
charge and decreasing atomic radius result in stronger force of attraction between
the nucleus and the outer electrons.

(c) Give the electronic configurations of phosphorus and sulphur.

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(d) Describe and explain the trend in atomic radius from left to right of Period 3.
The atomic radius decreases from left to right. This is because the positive nuclear
charge increases from left to right and the increasing nuclear charge attracts
electrons in outer shell more strongly.

(e) Describe and explain the difference in atomic and ionic radius for aluminium.
The ionic radius is smaller than the atomic radius. The difference is due to the ion
has a greater number of positively charged protons than negatively charged
electrons, so electrons are attracted more strongly and pulled in more closely to
the nucleus.

Multiple choice questions

1. Which of the following graphs of first ionisation energy against proton number for the
Period 3 elements is correct? (B)

2. Which of the following graphs best represents the variation in the ionic radius of the
Periodic Table elements (from Na to Cl)? (A)

3. Which of the following ions has the largest radius?

A. Na+ B. Al3+ C. S2- D. Cl-

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4. The size of Na+, Mg2+, and Al3+ is in the order: Na+ > Mg2+ > Al3+. Which of the
following best explains this trend?

A. The number of electrons decreases while the number of protons increases.

B. The number of electrons are the same but the number of protons increases.
C. The number of electrons and protons decreases.
D. The number of electrons and protons increases.

5. Going across the Period 3 from sodium to chlorine,

A. The atomic radius increases
B. The electrical conductivity increases
C. The electronegativity increases
D. The melting point increases

Sr1 Chemistry SUEC 2020 12 Chap 3: Periodic Table