5.

1 EARLY ATTEMPTS IN CLASSIFYING ELEMENTS

Modern science world is knowing information about more than 114 elements and have a periodic table prepared by Henry Moseley which makes the study more easy. But before the appearance of the modern periodic table there was many attempts that deserve respect. This resource is a brief write up about those attempts and their main principles.

5.2 READING THE PERIODIC TABLE

The interactive model doesn't allow you to build atoms with more than 10 protons. To find out how many protons, neutrons, and electrons are in these larger atoms, you need to read the information from the Periodic Table of Elements. Examine this explanation of the symbols and numbers displayed on the periodic table. Consider the data you collected in using the model and how the same information can be gleaned from the periodic table.

5.3 GROUPING THE ELEMETS:METALS,NONMETALS AND SEMI METALS Metals

In the periodic table, you can see a stair-stepped line starting at Boron (B), atomic number 5, and going all the way down to Polonium (Po), atomic number 84. Except for Germanium (Ge) and Antimony (Sb), all the elements to the left of that line can be classified as metals. These metals have properties that you normally associate with the metals you encounter in everyday life:

They are solid (with the exception of mercury, Hg, a liquid). They are shiny, good conductors of electricity and heat. They are ductile (they can be drawn into thin wires). They are malleable (they can be easily hammered into very thin sheets).

All these metals tend to lose electrons easily. The following figure shows the metals.

The metals in the periodic table. Click here to view this table.

Nonmetals
Except for the elements that border the stair-stepped line, the elements to the right of the line are classified as nonmetals (along with hydrogen). Nonmetals have properties opposite those of the metals.

The nonmetals are brittle, not malleable or ductile, poor conductors of both heat and electricity, and tend to gain electrons in chemical reactions. Some nonmetals are liquids. These elements are shown in the following figure.

The nonmetals in the periodic table.

Metalloids
The elements that border the stair-stepped line are classified as metalloids. The metalloids, orsemimetals, have properties that are somewhat of a cross between metals and nonmetals. Metalloids tend to be economically important because of their unique conductivity properties (they only partially conduct electricity), which make them valuable in the semiconductor and computer chip industry. The metalloids are shown in the following illustration.

5.4 THE S-,P-,D- AND F- BLOCK ELEMENTS 's' block elements, (except helium) are those in which the valence-shell is the 'ns' orbital and where the last electron enters into the 's' orbital of the outer element. The general outer electronic configuration of such elements is either ns or ns . The 's' block elements belong to group 1 and 2 of the long form periodic table. They are situated on the left side of the table. The main characteristics of the 's' block elements are:
1 2

The general outer electronic configurations of 's' block elements are ns

1-2

as all inner shells are already full.

1

The 's' block elements are either all alkali metals like Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs and Fr, as in group 1 (having ns outer electronic configuration) or alkaline Earth metals like Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba and Ra, as in group 2 (having ns outer electronic configurations).
2

The 's' block metals are soft and have a low melting and boiling point. The metals are very active. They are highly electropositive and lose their valence electrons to form monovalent or divalent cation. For example,

and

Being highly electropositive, these elements lose electrons readily and are strong reducing agents. The 's' block elements mostly form ionic compounds like NaCl, KCl, CaCl2 etc. 'p' block elements are those in which the outer electronic configuration is of the type ns np to ns np and where the last electron enters into any of the outermost 'p' orbitals. These elements belong to groups 13 to 18 of the long form of periodic table and are situated on the right hand side of the table. The main characteristics of the 'p' block elements are:
2 1 2 6

The general outer electronic configurations of 'p' block elements are ns np

1-6

as all inner shells are already full.

The 'p' block elements include metals, non-metals and metalloids. Typical examples are Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Sulphur, Halogens etc.

These elements enter into chemical combinations by losing, gaining or sharing the valence electrons. The noble gas elements show no reactivity because their outermost shells are completely filled (ns np ).
2 6

The 'p' block elements mostly form covalent compounds. Halogens however form ionic compounds with 's' block metals. 'd' block elements are those in which the added electron goes into one of the 'd' orbitals. These elements have valence electrons in both their outermost and penultimate shells (second outermost) and have a general outer electronic configuration of (n - 1) d
1-10 1-2

ns .

The penultimate shell in these elements is expanded from 8 to 18 by the inclusion of ten 'd' electrons. It is for this reason that these elements are called 'd' block elements. Thus, 'd' block elements are those, which in their elemental or combined forms have partially filled 'd' orbitals. They are also referred to as transition elements. 'd' block elements belong to groups 3 to 12 of the long form of periodic table and are situated in the middle of the table between 's' block and 'p' block elements. All 'd' block elements are classified into four transition series, namely: 3d series in the 4 period having 10 elements 4d series in the 5 period having 10 elements 5d series in the 6 period having 10 elements 6d series in the 7 period having incomplete elements. The main characteristics of the 'd' block elements are:
th
th th

th

'd' block elements have valence electrons in both their outermost and penultimate shells. Valence electrons belonging to the outermost shell or both shells may take part in a chemical reaction. Accordingly, more than one oxidation state can be shown by the same element; this is termed as variable oxidation states. Examples: Fe
2+

and Fe

3+

,Cu and Cu etc.

2+

'd' block elements exhibit transitional behaviour intermediate between highly reactive electropositive alkali metals and the covalent compound forming [Link] they are called as transition elements.

These elements are metals having high melting and boiling points . Most 'd' block elements form coloured salts. 'd' block elements, their ions and compounds, are generally paramagnetic. There are one or more unpaired electrons present in their atoms or ions.

Most of these transition elements are good catalysts. Because of their characteristic electronic configuration, the properties of transition elements ('d' block elements) in any period do not differ much from each other (unlike nontransition elements from the same period). The electronic configuration of transition elements can be written as: (n - 1) d ns where, x = 1 to 10 and y = 1, 2. This indicates that:
x y

The number of electrons in the outer shell 'ns' is invariably 1 or 2. The electronic configuration of transition elements differ from one an other only in the number of electrons in the 'd' orbitals of the (n - 1) shell. The 'f' block elements are those, which in their elemental or ionic forms have partially filled 'f' orbitals. The differentiating (last) electron enters 'f' orbitals, which lie inner to the second outermost (penultimate) shell. Thus these elements are also known as inner-transition elements. There are two series of 'f' block elements, each having 14 elements. Lanthanides (atomic number 58 - 71) are those inner-transition elements in which 4 'f' orbitals are progressively filled. Actinides (atomic number 90 - 103) are those elements in which 5 'f' orbitals are progressively filled. The 'f' block elements are placed at the bottom of the long form of periodic table in the form of two rows. Most actinides are radioactive. The general outer electronic configuration of 'f' block elements is, (n - 2) f The main characteristics of the 'f' block elements are:
1-14
th

(n - 1) d

0-1

ns

'f' block elements are metals having high melting and boiling points.

These elements exhibit variable oxidation states: the most common oxidation state being 3+. These elements form coloured salts as their salts absorb light from certain visible wavelengths. Actinides ('5f' series) are radioactive elements.

5.5 RENDS IN THE PERIODIC TABLE It's called a periodic table for a reason. The table part is pretty obvious, but do you know what periodic trends are considered in the arrangement of the elements? When you look at the organization of the periodic table, you will see that the elements are listed in order by atomic number (number of protons), until you get to the rare earth elements, which are placed below the main body of the table. The ordering of the elements allows you to predict some of the properties of the elements relative to each other: Atomic Radius - half of the distance between the centers of two atoms that are touching each other decreases moving left to right increases moving top to bottom Ionization Energy - energy required to remove an electron increases moving left to right decreases moving top to bottom Electron Affinity - ability to accept an electron alkaline earth elements have low electron affinities halogens have high electron affinities noble gases have electron affinities near zero other element groups tend to have low electron affinities Electronegativity - measure of the attraction to form a chemical bond increases moving left to right decreases moving top to bottom ATOMIC SIZE

The first of these properties is the atomic size. You know that each atom has a nucleus inside and electrons zooming around outside the nucleus. It should seem reasonable that the size of an atom depends on how far away its outermost (valence) electrons are from the nucleus. If they are very close to the nucleus, the atom will be very small. If they are far away, the atom will be quite a bit larger. So the atomic size is determined by how much space the electrons take up. Measuring the size of atoms is, in some ways, like measuring the size of cotton balls or automobile tires. The value you get depends on the conditions under which they are measured. A "free" cotton ball has a different size than when it is in the package. The radius of the tire is different when measured to the top of the tire than when measured to the bottom of the tire resting on the ground. Different values for the sizes of atoms are obtained depending on both the method used and the conditions in which the atoms find itself - free or bonded to other atoms. The following table gives a variety of values collected from a variety of [Link] set of values you choose to use, note the trends.

Ionic Sizes
The size of an ion is governed not only by its electronic structure but also by its charge. This relationship is evident in the following figure comparing ionic radii. Ions in the first row of this figure, H , Li , and Be , all have the same 1s electronic structure as the helium atom.
2 + 2+

5.6 ELEMENTS IN THE HUMAN BODY IN TECHNOLOGY