PERIODIC TABLE NOTES

BY: Kelli Ffrench-Parker

INTRODUCTION

The Periodic Table of Elements has developed into a very important tool for the
chemist. It can supply much needed information about the atoms, such as; atomic mass,
atomic number and electron configuration. It is set up in such a way as to also allow us
an idea of activity. The arrangement of the elements on the Periodic Table allow us to
better understand how a substance will react with another substance.

HISTORY

The periodic table is a tool that has not change much. At one time it was believed
that the way to describe the makeup of all things was to use the relationship of fire, air,
water and earth. Not much was known about the elements at this time. As more and
more elements were discovered there had to be a way of arranging them into a usable
pattern.

Johann Dobereiner did some work in the late 1820's. He noted a relationship
between the properties of certain elements and their atomic masses. Dobereiner knew
that chlorine, iodine and bromine all had similar properties. He arranged these elements
according to their atomic masses. The lightest (chlorine) was placed first and the
heaviest iodine was place last. Bromine was then placed in the middle. Dobereiner
noticed that the difference in the mass between chlorine and bromine was about the same
as the difference in mass between bromine and iodine. This same relationship was
observed in other groups as well (sulfur, selenium and tellurium; calcium, strontium, and
barium; lithium, sodium and potassium). These groups of three similar elements are
known as Dobereiner's triads.

In 1864 John Newlands saw a connection between the properties of elements and
their atomic masses. He indicated that if the elements were arranged according to
increasing mass that every eight element would have similar properties. (1-8, 2-9, 3-
10...). It must be understood that at this time the inert gasses were not yet discovered.

In 1869 Dimitri Mendeleev developed a table that classified the elements

according to their atomic mass. This table is the basis for the one we use today. He
placed elements with similar properties in the same row. He left blank space for elements
that were not yet discovered. Mendeleev was the first to publish a classification of
elements.

In 1914 Henry Mosley suggested that the elements on Mendeleev's table be

arranged by increasing atomic number rather than their mass. This made some minor
changes in Mendeleev's table, which placed the elements with similar properties in the
same group (Look at Te and I). This table became the table that we are now using. We
can now state the PERIODIC LAW:

The chemical and physical properties of the elements are periodic functions of
their atomic number.

STRUCTURE

The Periodic Table is made up of three types of elements; metals, nonmetals, and
metalloids (semimetals). Metals make up the largest number of elements and are found
on the left side of the table. These metals will form positive ions. They form positive
ions because as atoms they have one, two or three electrons in their outer shell. When
they form ions they will lose these electrons to gain electron configurations that make
them stable. The number of protons do not change therefore when a metallic atom loses
an electron (negatively charge particle) it becomes positively charged because it now has
less negative charges than it originally had. When they lose these electrons they will end
up with a smaller radius than when they were atoms.

Group I or all those elements in the first column, except hydrogen, will all have
similar properties. This group is called the Alkali metals. They will all form ions with a
+1 charge. They all have one s electron in their outer shell. These are very active metals
and are seldom found free in nature. As a matter of fact these elements are not found free
in nature. In order to keep some pure material, such as sodium, it must be stored under
kerosene because it would react with the moisture in the air.

The second column is made up of metals called the alkaline earth metals. These
are also very active elements, but not as active as those in group 1. These group 2
elements have properties similar to each other. They all have two s electrons in their
outer shell and will therefore produce a +2 ion.

Another group of metals is the transition elements. These metals are located in
the center of the periodic table. They make up groups 3 through 12. When they form
ions it becomes more complicated because they will have multiple energy levels
involved. They therefore produce variable charges (oxidation states) when ions are
formed. This area represents the filling of the d sublevel. Not all will have variable
oxidation states. One important characteristic is that we can have colored solutions
formed when transition elements are present. All transition elements don't form colored
solutions, but if you have a colored solution you must have a transition element present.

The rare earth elements are the two rows at the bottom of the periodic table.
These elements are rare. Most are unstable and will have only the most stable isotope
listed. Because they are unstable many of these are associated with radioactivity. In this
area represents the filling of the f sublevel.

The nonmetals are found on the right side of the periodic table. They are only a
small number of elements - mostly gases. These elements form ions that are larger than
their atoms because they have more electrons in their outer shell so it is easier for them to
gain electrons to complete their outer shell than it would be for them to loses electrons.
When they gain electrons they will have more negative particles around the nucleus
therefore the will form ions that have a negative charge. Remember the number of
protons can't change. The two most important groups of nonmetals are the halogens and
the inert gases.

The halogens are those elements that are located in group 17. It is the only group
on the periodic table that has a solid, liquid, and gas. Each member of this group forms
an ion, when it is the nonmetal by itself, of -1. This is because they each have 7 electrons
in their outer shell and each would like to have eight electrons in their outer shell.
Fluorine is a member of this group and is considered to be the most active nonmetal.
Fluorine and chlorine are gases at room temperature, while iodine is a liquid and bromine
and astatine are solids.

The other important group of nonmetals is the inert gases. Sometimes these are
called the Noble gases or the inert gas structures. They have completed outer shells and
are therefore stable elements. This is called a stable octet (except He which only has 2
electrons in it's outer shell). The neither want to gain or lose electrons. They appear to
have the right number of electrons in their outer shell. These elements were some of the
last elements discovered because they were unreactive. These elements will not react
with other elements and this is why they are called inert gases (unreactive). We find now
that some of the larger molecular structures can be made to react with Fluorine under
certain conditions.

Metalloids are the other type of elements on the periodic table. They are found
along the line drawn like steps between boron and aluminum, aluminum and silicon and
so on. This appears as a dark line on your periodic table. Aluminum is the exception
here. Those elements found along this line are metalloids, except aluminum. Aluminum
is a metal. They separate the metals from the nonmetals. They have characteristics that
resemble both metals and nonmetals.

TRENDS

There are trends that we can follow on the periodic table. We will look at the
group or family (vertical columns) and the period or series (horizontal rows).

As you go from top to bottom (vertical columns) in a group or family you are
adding an additional energy level for each successive atom. Because chemical activity
will occur in the outer shell, it is important to understand that the outer shell gets farther
and farther from the nucleus. The farther an electron gets from the nucleus the less
attractive force on those electrons. We can look at some properties and use this
relationship to explain what happens. Because the elements are arranged by increasing
atomic number we will look at these trends in the same was - increasing atomic number:

Groups or Families
1. Metallic properties increase. Why? Metals want to lose electrons the farther the
electron is from the nucleus the easier it will be to lose the electron.

2. Radius increases. There is an additional energy level added to each successive atom.

3. Ionization energy decreases (Table K). It takes less energy to form an ion.

4. Electronegativity decreases (Table K). Electronegativity is the attraction an atom has

for an electron. If the outer shell (valence shell) is farther from the nucleus there will not
be as great attraction if it were closer.

5. Oxidation states (charges) remains the same because they all have the same number of
electrons in the outer shell and will therefore behave the same.

6. They all have similar properties.

Periods or Series

1. Metallic properties decrease. As you go from one element to the next the number of
electrons in the outer shell (valence shell) will increase. A metal wants to lose electrons
and a nonmetal wants to gain electrons. The more electrons present in this outer shell the
harder it is to lose them all.

2. Radius decreases. All the elements that are on the same period will have the same
number of energy levels. The number of protons in the nucleus increases making the
nuclear charge stonger. It therefore pulls the electrons toward it making the radius
smaller as you go from one element to the next.

3. Ionization energy increases. There are more electrons in the outer shell and it is
therefore harder to remove them. The electrons are also closer to the nucleus so there is a
greater force holding them there.

4. Electronegativity increases. These elements want to gain electrons to complete their

outer shell, so they have a greater force of attraction.

5. Oxidation states change (+1, +2, +3, + - 4, -3 , -2, -1)). They all have a different
number of electrons in the outer shell.

6. Properties are all different

IONIZATION ENERGY

Ionization energy is the energy required to remove an electron. First ionization

energy, as indicated on Table K, is the energy needed to remove the most loosely bound
electron. Metals have low ionization energies because they want to lose electrons to form
ions. The electrons that are farthest from the nucleus will have the least attraction by the
nucleus and will therefore take the least amount of energy to be removed from the atom
to form an ion. In the example below the first ionization energy for sodium (Na) will be
higher than potassium (K) because the electron that it is removing is closer to the nucleus.
The closer an electron is to the nucleus the stronger the force of attraction and therefore
the more energy needed to overcome that force.

Na + energy (1st ionization energy) g Na+ + e-

K + energy (1st ionization energy) g K+ + e-

Both potassium (K) and sodium (Na) are in the same family. They both have one
electron in their outer shell. To complete the outer shell they must either lose 1 electron
or gain 7 electrons. If you associate a certain amount of energy with each electron it
would be easier to lose just one electron that to try and gain 7. Potassium needs less
energy to remove its electron because the outer shell is on the fourth energy level (period
4). It takes 100 kcal/mole of atoms. Sodium only needs to lose one electron also, but its
outer shell is closer to the nucleus so it take more energy to remove it. It takes 119
kcal/mole of atoms.

ELECTRONEGATIVITY

Electronegativity is the attraction an atom has for an electron. It is an arbitrary

scale with Fluorine having the highest value of 4. Nonmetal have higher
electronegativities than metals because they want to attract electrons to complete their
outer shells. The farther the electron is from the nucleus the weaker the attractive force.
That is why bromine has a lower electronegativity than fluorine because the attraction
that bromine has for an electron would attract it on the fourth energy level as apposed to
the second energy level like fluorine. Table K will give us the electronegativity of many
elements. These values will be very important to us in the next chapter on bonding.

We should make sure that we understand the relationship of electron

configurations on the periodic table. As we move from one element to the next on the
periodic table (increasing atomic number) we add one additional electron. This was
covered in the last chapter on Atomic Structure. There is a certain order in which the
energy levels outside the nucleus are arranged.