Investigation on periodic trends of

elements.
How does physical properties of elements in a group
affected by change in atomic radius /ionic radius ?

Hypothesis:
 The melting & boiling point and the density will decrease as the atomic
radius increases in Group 2

Variables
 Controlled Variable = The Group of the Metal, Quantity of the metal , Time
(Stop boiling the metal after 2 minutes of seeing bubbles), Amount of heat
used to boil the metals
 Dependent Variable = Melting point, Boiling point & Density of the metal
 Independent Variable = Atomic Radius of the metal

Data Collection
Group 2 Peroidic Trends
Metals Atomic Radius (pm) Melting Point (°C) Boiling Point (°C) Density (g cm−3)
Beryllium 112 1287 2468 1.85
Magnesium 173 650 1090 1.74
Calcium 231 842 1484 1.54
Strontium 200 777 1377 2.64
Data Analysis
Series1
10000
Purple = Density
2468
1287 1484 1377
1090 842 Green= Boiling
1000 650 777
Point
173 231 200
112 Red = Melting Point
100

Blue = Atomic
10 Radius
2.64
1.85 1.74 1.54
1
Metals Beryllium Magnesium Calcium Strontium

Observation
Generally the melting point and boiling point of the metals decreases down the
group. This is because as the metal ions get larger the distance between the
bonding electrons and the positive nucleus gets larger and reduces the overall
attraction between the two. From the formula of density we can see that density
is inversely proportional to the volume of an atom. We also know that the volume
of an atom is directly proportional to its radius. Thus, we can conclude that the
density is inversely proportional to the atomic radius.

Conclusion
As a result, we can say that because of the positive nucleus becoming further
away from the valence electrons as the atomic radius increases the force of
attraction decreases. Hence we can state that the boiling point , melting point and
density decrease as the atomic radius of a metal increases down the group.
Extension

Hypothesis
 Melting and boiling point first increases and then decreases when they
reach the non-metals and density increases as the atomic radii decreases

Data Collection
Metals Atomic Radius (pm) Melting Point (°C) Boiling Point (°C) Density (g cm−3)
Lithium 167 180.5 1342 0.534
Beryllium 112 1287 2468 1.85
Boron 87 2077 4000 2.34
Carbon 67 3825 3825 3.513/2.2
Nitrogen 56 -210 -195.795 0.001145
Oxygen 48 -218.79 −182.962 0.001308
Fluorine 42 -219.67 -188.11 0.001553

(Table at the end of the page)

Observation
Generally, the atomic radius decreases across a period from left to right and
increases down a given group.

Moving from left to right across a period, electrons are added one at a time to the
outer energy shell. Since the number of protons is also increasing, the effective
nuclear charge increases across a period. This causes the atomic radius to
decrease.

Conclusion
As radius decreases across a period and the atomic number increases so density
increases across a period and melting and boiling point increase then decreases
when we reach the non- metals