The Periodic Table

There are over 100 chemical elements which have been isolated and identified

Each element has one proton more than the element preceding it

This is done so that elements end up in columns with other elements which have
similar properties

Elements are arranged on the periodic table in order of increasing atomic number

The table is arranged in vertical columns called groups and in rows called periods

Period: These are the horizontal rows that show the number of shells of electrons an
atom has and are numbered from 1 - 7

E.g. elements in period 2 have two electron shells, elements in period 3 have three
electron shells

Group: These are the vertical columns that show how many outer electrons (also
known as valence electrons) each atom has and are numbered from I – VII, with a
final group called Group 0 (instead of Group VIII)

E.g. Group IV elements have atoms with 4 electrons in the outermost shell, Group VI
elements have atoms with 6 electrons in the outermost shell and so on

The group number can help determine the charge that metal and non-metal ions
form

For metals, the group number corresponds to the number of electrons it will lose to
achieve a full outer shell and the charge of the metal ion

E.g. sodium is in Group I, it will lose 1 electron and form an ion with a 1+ charge

Magnesium is in Group II, it will lose 2 electrons and form an ion with a 2+ charge

For non-metals in Group VII and VI, they will gain 1 and 2 electrons respectively to
gain a full outer shell

E.g. non-metals in Group VII gain 1 electron to form ions with a 1- charge

Non-metals in Group VI gain 2 electrons to form ions with a 2- charge

All elements are arranged in the order of increasing atomic number from left to
right
Valency

Valence (or combining power) tells you how many bonds an atom can make with
another atom or how many electrons its atoms lose, gain or share, to form a
compound

E.g. carbon has a valancy of 4 as it is in Group IV so a single carbon atom can share
4 electrons to make 4 single bonds or 2 double bonds

The following valencies apply to elements in each group:

The Metallic Character of Elements

The metallic character of the elements decreases as you move across a Period on
the Periodic Table, from left to right, and it increases as you move down a Group

This trend occurs due to atoms more readily accepting electrons to fill
their valence shells rather than losing them to have the previous, already full,
electron shell as their outer shell

Metals occur on the left-hand side of the Periodic Table and non-metals on
the right-hand side

Between the metals and the non-metals lie the elements which display some
properties of both

These elements are referred to as metalloids or semi-metals

Properties of metals and non-metals

A zig-zag line in this diagram separates the metals on the left, from the non-
metals on the right
Periodic Trends & Electronic Configuration

The electronic configuration is the arrangement of electrons into shells for an atom
(e.g: the electronic configuration of carbon is 2,4)

There is a link between the electronic configuration of the elements and their position
on the Periodic Table

The number of notations in the electronic configuration will show the number of
occupied shells of electrons the atom has, showing the period

The last notation shows the number of outer electrons the atom has, showing
the group number

Example: Electronic configuration of chlorine:

The electronic configuration of chlorine as it should be written

Period: The red numbers at the bottom show the number of notations which is 3,
showing that a chlorine atom has 3 shells of electrons.

Group: The final notation, which is 7 in the example, shows that a chlorine atom has
7 outer electrons and is in Group VII

The position of chlorine on the Periodic Table

Elements in the same group in the Periodic Table have similar chemical properties

When atoms collide and react, it is the outermost electrons that interact

The similarity in their chemical properties stems from having the same number of
electrons in their outer shell
For example, both lithium and sodium are in Group I and can react with elements in
Group VII to form an ionic compound (charges of Group I ions are 1+, charges of
Group VII ions are 1-) by reacting in a similar manner and each donating one
electron to the Group VII element

As you look down a group, a full shell of electrons is added to each subsequent
element

Lithium's electronic configuration: 2,1

Sodium's electronic configuration: 2,8,1

Potassium's electronic configuration: 2,8,8,1

Predicting Properties

Because there are patterns in the way the elements are arranged on the Periodic
Table, there are also patterns and trends in the chemical behaviour of the elements
and their physical properties

These trends in properties occur down groups and across the periods of the Periodic
Table

As a result, we can use the Periodic Table to predict properties such as:

boiling point

melting point

density

reactivity

Some common properties / trends in properties include:

Group I elements react very quickly with water

Noble gases are unreactive

Transition elements are denser than Group I elements

Reactivity decreases going down Group VII

Melting point decreases going down Group I

In this way the Periodic Table can be used to predict how a particular element will
behave
Identifying Trends

Using given information about elements, we can identify trends in properties

An example of when this might be used is to determine the trend in reactivity of

Group I metals

The table below shows the reactions of the first three elements in Group I with water

Observations of Lithium, Sodium, and Potassium with Water

The observations show that reactivity of the Group I metals increases as you go
down the group

Using this information, we can predict the trend going further down Group I for the
elements rubidium, caesium and francium

As the reactivity of alkali metals increases down the group, rubidium, caesium and
francium will react more vigorously with air and water than lithium, sodium and
potassium

Lithium will be the least reactive metal in the group at the top, and francium will be
the most reactive at the bottom

Francium is rare and radioactive so is difficult to confirm predictions

 Table to Show the Predicted Reaction of other Group I Elements with Water

Group VII Properties & Trends

The halogens

These are the Group VII non-metals that are poisonous and include fluorine,
chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine

Halogens are diatomic, meaning they form molecules of two atoms

The formulae of the halogens are F2, Cl2, Br2, I2 and At2

All halogens have seven electrons in their outer shell

They form halide ions by gaining one more electron to complete their outer shells

Fluorine is not allowed in schools so observations and experiments tend to only

involve chlorine, bromine and iodine

Properties of the halogens

At room temperature (20 °C), the physical state of the halogens changes as you go
down the group

Chlorine is a pale yellow-green gas, bromine is a red-brown liquid and iodine is

a grey-black solid

This demonstrates that the density of the halogens increases as you go down the
g
Group VII Displacement Reactions

A halogen displacement reaction occurs when a more reactive halogen displaces a

less reactive halogen from an aqueous solution of its halide

The reactivity of Group VII non-metals increases as you move up the group

Out of the three commonly used halogens, chlorine, bromine and iodine, chlorine is
the most reactive and iodine is the least reactive

Transition Elements

General properties of the transition elements

They are very hard and strong metals and are good conductors
of heat and electricity

They have very high melting points and are highly dense metals

For example, the melting point of titanium is 1,688ºC whereas potassium in Group I
melts at only 63.5ºC, slightly warmer than the average cup of hot chocolate!

The transition elements form coloured compounds and often have more than
one oxidation state, such as iron readily forming compounds of both Fe2+ and Fe3+

These coloured compounds are responsible for the pigments in many paints and the
colours of gemstones and rocks

Transition elements, as elements or in compounds, are often used as catalysts to

improve the rate or reaction in industrial processes

Transition element catalysts of platinum or rhodium are also used in car exhausts in
the 'catalytic convertor' to reduce the levels of nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide
produced
 The transition elements on the Periodic Table

Transition Elements Oxidation Numbers

The transition elements have more than one oxidation number, as they can lose a
different number of electrons, depending on the chemical environment they are in

For example, iron either:

Lose two electrons to form Fe2+ so has an oxidation number of +2

Loses three electrons to form Fe3+ so has an oxidation number of +3

Compounds containing transition elements in different oxidation states will have

different properties and colours

Ions of the same element can have different oxidation numbers forming
different colours
Uses of the transition elements

The transition elements are used extensively as catalysts due to their ability to
interchange between a range of oxidation states

This allows them to form complexes with reagents which can

easily donate and accept electrons from other chemical species within a reaction
system

They are used in medicine and surgical applications such as limb and joint
replacement (titanium is often used for this as it can bond with bones due to its high
biocompatibility)

They are also used to form coloured compounds

in dyes and paints, stained glass jewellery

Colour of Halogens in Aqueous Solutions

Halogen displacement reactions

Chlorine and bromine

If you add chlorine solution to colourless potassium bromide solution, the solution
becomes orange as bromine is formed

Chlorine is above bromine in Group VII so is more reactive

Chlorine will therefore displace bromine from an aqueous solution of the metal
bromide

The least reactive halogen always ends up in the elemental form

potassium bromide + chlorine → potassium chloride + bromine

2KBr (aq) + Cl2 (aq) → 2KCl (aq) + Br2 (aq)

Bromine and iodine

Bromine is above iodine in Group VII so is more reactive

Bromine will therefore displace iodine from an aqueous solution of metal iodide

The solution will turn brown as iodine is formed

magnesium iodide + bromine → magnesium bromide + iodine

MgI2 (aq) + Br2 (aq) → MgBr2 (aq) + I2 (aq)

Summary table of displacement reactions

 The physical state of the halogens at room temperature

Reactivity of Group VII non-metals increases as you go up the group (this is the
opposite trend to that of Group I)

Each outer shell contains seven electrons and when the halogen reacts, it will need
to gain one outer electron to get a full outer shell of electrons

As you go up Group VII, the number of shells of electrons decreases (period

number decreases moving up the Periodic Table)

This means that the outer electrons are closer to the nucleus so there
are stronger electrostatic forces of attraction, which help to attract the extra electron
needed

This allows an electron to be attracted more readily, so the higher up the element is
in Group VII then the more reactive it is

Diagram showing the electronic configuration of the first three elements in

Group VII
Exam Tip

Solid iodine, iodine in solution and iodine vapour are different colours. Solid iodine is
dark grey-black, iodine vapour is purple and aqueous iodine is brown.
Predicting Group VII Properties

You may be given information about some elements and asked to predict the
properties of other elements in the group

The information you might be given could be in relation to melting/boiling point or

physical state/density so it is useful to know the trends in properties going down the
group

Melting and boiling point

The melting and boiling point of the halogens increases as you go down the group

Fluorine is at the top of Group VII so will have the lowest melting and boiling point

Astatine is at the bottom of Group VII so will have the highest melting and boiling
point

Physical states

The halogens become denser as you go down the group

Fluorine is at the top of Group VII so will be a gas

Astatine is at the bottom of Group VII so will be a solid

Colour

The colour of the halogens becomes darker as you go down the group

Fluorine is at the top of Group VII so the colour will be lighter, so fluorine is yellow

Astatine is at the bottom of Group VII so the colour will be darker, so astatine
is black
Noble Gases Properties & Electronic Configuration

The Noble Gases

The noble gases are in Group VIII (or Group 0); they are non-metals and have
very low melting and boiling points

They are all monoatomic, colourless gases

The Group 0 elements all have full outer shells

This electronic configuration is extremely stable so these elements are unreactive

and are inert

Electronic configurations of the noble gases:

He: 2

Ne: 2,8

Ar: 2,8,8

Kr: 2,8,18,8

Xe: 2,8,18,18,8

Noble gases are inert (unreactive) as they have a full outer shell of
electrons so do not easily lose or gain electrons