PERIODICITY

INTRODUCTION

Periodicity is the most fundamental aspect in periodic table.

Important in understanding the physical properties of the

elements such as :

Atomic radii

Ionic radii

Ionisation energy

Electron affinity

Electronegativity

ATOMIC RADIUS

COVALENT RADIUS

METALLIC RADIUS

VAN DER WAALS RADIUS

Half the bond length of

two identical atoms
which are covalently
bonded together.

Half the distance

between the nuclei of
neighbouring metal atoms
in the crystal lattice of
metal.

Half the distance

between two
neighbouring atoms which
are just touching. The
attractive forces are
much less and the atoms
are essentially
unsquashed.

Effective Nuclear Charge

There are two factors that affect atomic radii in the periodic trend :-

Increasing nuclear charge

The effective nuclear charge (Zeff) is the net positive charge that an
electron experiences from the nucleus, equal to the nuclear charge but
reduced by any shielding or screening from any intervening electron
distribution.

In other words, effective nuclear charge is the pull that an electron

feels from the nucleus.

The closer an electron is to the nucleus, the more pull it feels.

As effective nuclear charge increases, the electron cloud is pulled in

tighter.

Zeff = Z-S
Z = Actual nuclear charge (Proton Number)
S = Shielding constant (Number of electron in the inner shells)

Increasing Shell

Shielding effect : Effect of electron repulsions within the

same orbital as well as between inner and outer electrons.

However, the inner electrons shields the outer electrons

more effectively than electrons of the same subshell.

As you move down the group from top to bottom, the

shielding effect increases. As you move down the column,
more energy levels are added, thus, strengthening the
shielding effect.

General Trends
ACROSS PERIOD (From left to right)

Atomic radius decrease from left to right in the periodic table.

As we move across the period, the effective nuclear charge increases due to the
increase in proton number.

Increasing Zeff reduces the size of the orbital by pulling the electron inward.

This results in contraction of the atomic radius and therefore decreasing atomic sizes

DOWN A GROUP (From top to bottom)

On going down a group, atomic radius continues to increase.

This is due to the increase of total number of shells down a group leading to greater
shielding effect.

The atomic orbital for each successive shell gets larger and larger.

The outer electrons are more shielded from the attraction of the nucleus.

So, the electrons in the outer shell are further from the attraction of the nucleus.

Therefore, atomic radius increases.