Periodic Table
History of the Periodic Table
Mendeleev first arranged the elements in a table according to their chemical properties and what
he knew about their atomic masses.
Nowadays the elements in the Periodic Table are put in order of increasing atomic number and
arranged according to electronic structure.
This is because, in three places in the table, an element with higher relative atomic mass has to be
placed before one with a lower mass. For example, argon (relative atomic mass 39.9) comes
before potassium
(R.A.M. 39.1).
Properties of the Table
The chemical properties of elements depend on the number of electrons in the outer shell, so we
place them in vertical groups which all have the same number of electrons in the outer shell:
e.g. Group 1 3Li 2.1
11Na 2.8.1
19K [Link]
After element 20 the electron arrangement becomes more complicated, but it is always true that
elements in group 1 have one electron in their outer shell, so we can say that Rb, Cs and Fr will all
have one electron in their outer shell.
Similarly elements in group 3 always have three electrons, and elements in group 7 have seven
electrons in their outer shell.
The elements on the right of the table — labelled Group 0 — have full outer shells, normally with
eight electrons in them (Ne is 2.8, AR is 2.8.8 etc). Helium (element 2) is also placed here, because
it too has a full outer shell.
Hydrogen, element 1, is unique and is not normally placed in any of the main groups.
A horizontal row in the table is called a period.
Elements across the same period are building up the same outer electron shell.
Patterns in the Periodic Table
If the elements are listed in order of atomic number, similar elements appear at regular intervals
(although the intervals get longer later in the list). This is a periodic property.
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When the elements are laid out according to their electronic structures, as described above, we
find that there is a regular pattern of properties across one period, and a similar pattern across the
next period.
The most obvious pattern is the change from reactive metals on the left (Group 1), through less
reactive elements in the middle, to increasingly reactive non-metals in Group 7 — followed by the
very unreactive gases in Group 0. Since soluble oxides of metals are alkaline, and soluble oxides of
non-metals are acidic, there is also a pattern of alkaline oxides on the left giving way to
increasingly acidic oxides across the period.
Within the same group elements are generally very similar, though they may show a regular trend in
their properties. The similarity occurs because the atoms have the same number of electrons in
their outer shell.
You are expected to know about Group 1, Group 7, Group 0, and the Transition Metals.
Group 1
Li (lithium), Na (sodium), K (potassium), Rb (rubidium), Cs
(caesium) * These are called the alkali metals.
* They all have one electron in their outer shell.
* They are all reactive metals, with a valency (combining power) of 1.
Physical properties:
• They are silver, shiny metals when freshly cut, though they tarnish rapidly and are kept
under oil to protect them from air and water.
• They have unusually low densities for metals (Li, Na and K will float on water). These
densities increase down the group.
• They become softer going down the group: lithium is quite hard, sodium is as soft as
cheese, and caesium is like putty.
• The melting points fall going down the group: from Li (180oC), Na (98oC), K (64oC), Rb
(39oC) to Cs (25oC). You don’t need to know the values. These are all unusually low for
metals.
Reaction with water (increasingly violent down the group):
* Lithium floats, reacts quite vigorously, and fizzes giving off hydrogen.
* Sodium melts to a ball, fizzes around the surface bubbling vigorously giving off hydrogen.
* Potassium reacts violently, melting to a silver ball, catching fire to burn with a mauve flame,
and fizzing around.
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* Caesium explodes.
N.B. all give the metal hydroxide (not oxide) and hydrogen.
Example equation: 2Na(s) + 2H2O(l) 2NaOH(aq) + H2(g)
• As the group is descended the atoms become
larger
• and the outer shell electron is held less
. strongly
• since it is further away (and shielded from) from the attraction of the protons in the
nucleus.
• It becomes easier to lose it to form positive ions and so the elements become more
reactive
Properties of alkali metal compounds
They are almost all white, crystalline solids (all ionic) which are soluble in
water.
Group 7 – The Halogens
F (fluorine), Cl (chlorine), Br (bromine), I (iodine).
They all have seven electrons in their outer shells.
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They are reactive non-metals, with a valency
(combining power) of 1. They all consist of
molecules with two atoms: F2, Cl2, Br2, and I2.
Physical
Properties
F2 Cl2 Br2 I2
State gas gas liquid solid
melting point (oC) –220 –101 –7 114
boiling point (oC) –188 –35 59 184
colour yellow green/yellow red purple/black
With increasing atomic number (down the group):
• melting points and boiling points increase (because the attractive forces
between the molecules increase as the molecules get larger). State at room
temp: g – g –l –s
• they become darker. Solid iodine looks black, but its vapour is purple, and it
is purple when dissolved in organic solvents like hexane.
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