By Shamiyah
Groups and Families on the Periodic Table
About the Periodic Table of the Elements |
The periodic table is the most important chemistry reference there is in life and matter. It arranges all the known elements in an a way that only the people who found or discover the element can say. Elements are arranged left to right and top to bottom in order of increasing atomic number. Order generally coincides with increasing atomic mass. |
How to use the Periodic Table
* Atomic Number
The number of protons in an atom defines what element it is. For example carbon atoms have six protons, hydrogen atoms have one, and oxygen atoms have eight. The number of protons in an atom is referred to as the atomic number of that element. The number of protons in an atom also determines the chemical behavior of the element.
* Atomic Symbol
The atomic symbol is one or two letters chosen to represent an element. These symbols are used internationally. Typically, a symbol is the truncated name of the element or the truncated
* Atomic Weight
Standard atomic weight is the average mass of an element in atomic mass units.The atomic mass on the periodic table is stated as a decimal number because it is an average of the various isotopes of an element. The average number of neutrons for an element can be found by subtracting the number of protons from the atomic mass.
Groups
Group 1 (red) Alkali metals
- The alkali metals make up group 1 of the table, Li through Fr. They have very similar behavior and characteristics. Hydrogen is group 1 but exhibits few characteristics of a metal and is often categorized with the nonmetals.
Group 2 (orange) Alkaline earth metals
- The earth metals make up group 2 of the table, from Be through Ra. They have very high melting points and oxides that have basic alkaline solutions.
Group 13 (3) (yellow) Boron Family
- The Boron family make up the group of 3 of the table, B through Ti. Group 13, 3 valence electrons, composed of a metalloid and metals.
Group 14 (4) (green) Carbon Family
- The Carbon Family make up group 4 of the table, from C through Pb. Group 14, 4 valence electrons, composed of 1 nonmetal, 2 metals, 2 metalloids, carbon forms 5 million compounds.
Group 15 (5) (teal) Nitrogen Family
- The Nitrogen Family make up the group of 5 of the table, N through Bi. Group 15, 5 valence electrons, tend to share electrons, nitrogen is the most abundant element in the earth's atmosphere.
Group 16 (6) (sky blue) Oxygen Family
- The oxygen Family make up group 6 of the table, from O through Po. Group 16, 6 valence electrons, tend to share electrons, oxygen is the most abundant element in the earth's crust.
Group 17 (7) (blue) Halogen Family
- The Halogen Family make up group 7 of the table, from F through At. Halogen family group 17, 7 valence electrons, most reactive nonmetals, never found uncombined in nature, halogens combined with metals form salts.
Group 18 (8) (pink) Noble Gases
- The Noble Gases make up group 8 of the table, from HE through Rn. Group 18, normally unreactive, also called inert gases, 8 valence electrons filled outer shell.
Transition Metals
- Transition metals make up the big, huge group on the table. Group 3-12, they are good conductors of heat and electricity, compounds of these elements can usually be brightly colored, most have 1 or 2 valence electrons.
Inner Transition Metals
- Inner transition metal is a group of chemical elements on the table. They are normally shown in two rows below all of the other elements. They can be quite malleable and ductile. They do not occur in nature, except for the lanthanides, thorium and uranium and are highly unstable.
Periods
- In each period (horizontal row), the atomic numbers increase from left to right. The periods are numbered 1 through 7 on the left-hand side of the table.
Columns
- Members of the families (vertical columns) in the periodic table have similar properties. The families are labeled at the top of the columns in one of two ways.
- The newer method uses the numbers 1 through 18.
- The older method uses Roman numerals and letters. Many chemists prefer and still use this method.
Rows
*Rows and periods are basically the same thing.*
Citations
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