Classification of elements

and periodicity in
properties
Chapter 3
 Lets recall and revise…
Law of triads:-
According to law of triads elements were placed in a group of 3 and they
were called triads. These were placed in the increasing order of atomic
masses

Newland’s law of octaves:-

the elements were placed in increasing order of their atomic weights and it
was noted that every eighth element had properties similar to the first
element .

The relationship was just like every eighth note that resembles the first in
octaves of music. Newlands’s Law of Octaves seemed to be true to elements
only upto calcium.
Mendeleev’s periodic law
“The properties of the elements
are a periodic function of their
atomic weights.”

Mendeleev arranged elements in

horizontal rows and vertical
columns of a table in order of
their increasing atomic weights in
such a way that the elements
with similar properties occupied
the same vertical column or
group .
 Mendeleev left gaps under silicon
and aluminium and those were
known as eka aluminium and eka
silicon.
Later it was discovered that eka
aluminium had properties similar to
gallium and eka silicon had
properties similar to germanium.
According to modern periodic law,
“The physical and chemical properties of
the elements are periodic functions of
their atomic numbers”.
Modern form of periodic table was
discovered by henry Mosley and hence it
was also called henry Mosley's periodic
table.
The Periodic Law revealed important analogies among the 94
naturally occurring elements (neptunium and plutonium like
actinium and protoactinium are also found in pitch blende – an ore
of uranium).

The horizontal rows of the periodic table are called periods

while the vertical columns are called groups or families.
DIVISION OF PERIODIC TABLE
The periodic table is divided into 4 blocks mainly the s-block p-block d-
block and f-block.
S-block:-
The elements of Group 1 (alkali metals) and Group 2 (alkaline earth metals)
which have ns1 and ns2 outermost electronic configuration belong to the s-
Block Elements.
They are all reactive metals with low ionization enthalpies. They lose the
outermost electron(s) readily to form 1+ ion in the case of alkali metals or 2+
ion in the case of alkaline earth metals.
The metallic character and the reactivity increase as we go down the group.
Because of high reactivity they are never found pure in nature.
The compounds of the s-block elements, with the exception of those of
lithium and beryllium are predominantly ionic.
P-block:
The p-Block Elements comprise those belonging to Group 13 to 18 and these
together with the s-Block Elements are called the Representative Elements
or Main Group Elements.
The outermost electronic configuration varies from ns2np1 to ns2np6 in each
period. At the end of each period is a noble gas element with a closed
valence shell ns2np6 configuration.
All the orbitals in the valence shell of the noble gases are completely filled
by electrons and it is very difficult to alter this stable arrangement by the
addition or removal of electrons.
The noble gases thus exhibit very low chemical reactivity. Preceding the
noble gas family are two chemically important groups of non-metals. They
are the halogens (Group 17) and the chalcogens (Group 16).
These two groups of elements have highly negative electron gain enthalpies
and readily add one or two electrons respectively to attain the stable noble
gas configuration.
The non-metallic character increases as we move from left to right across a
period and metallic character increases as we go down the group
D-block:

Elements in which the d-orbitals are completely filled are called the
d-block elements.

General electronic configuration is (n-1)d1-10ns1-2 .

Properties:-

-Shows catalytic properties

-forms coloured ions

-shows paramagnetic properties

-forms complexes

They are often referred to as transition metals as they are placed

between metals and non metals and also due to their charecteristic
feature.
F-block:

Elements in which the f-orbital is completely filled are called the f-

block elements.

General electronic configuration is ns2(n-1)d0-1(n-2)f1-10.

Inner transition metals are known as f-block elements.

They have incomplete d-orbital electronic confg in their normal state

and in their oxidation state.

They are generally radioactive.

Trends in physical properties
We will be studying,

Atomic radius

Ionic radius

Ionisation enthalpy

Electron gain enthalpy

Electronegativity

Oxidation states

Chemical reactivity
 Atomic radius
The atomic size generally decreases
across a period as for the elements
of the second period. It is because
within the period the outer
electrons are in the same valence
shell and the effective nuclear
increases as the atomic number
increases.
This results in increased attraction
between nucleus and the electron
Atomic radius decreases from left to
right as principal quantum number
increases.
It also increases down a group as
the number of shells increase.
Variation of atomic size
to that of alkali metals
 Ionic radius
The removal of an electron from an atom
results in the formation of a cation, whereas
gain of an electron leads to an anion.

A cation is always smaller than its parent atom

while a anion is always greater to its parent
atom.

This is due to electron electron repulsion.

Isoelectronic species are those species which

have Two or more species with same number
of atoms, same number of valence electrons
and same structure, regardless of the nature
of elements involved.

The cation with the greater positive charge

will have a smaller radius because of the
greater attraction of the electrons to the
nucleus. Anion with the greater negative
charge will have the larger radius. In this case,
the net repulsion of the electrons will
outweigh the nuclear charge and the ion will
expand in size.
 Ionisation enthalpy
A quantitative measure of the tendency of an
element to lose electron is given by its
Ionization Enthalpy. It represents the energy
required to remove an electron from an isolated
gaseous atom (X) in its ground state. In other
words, the first ionization enthalpy for an
element X is the enthalpy change (∆i H) for the
reaction X(g) → X+(g) + e–

The ionization enthalpy is expressed in units of

kJ mol–1. We can define the second ionization
enthalpy as the energy required to remove the
second most loosely bound electron
X+(g) → X2+ (g) + e–

Energy is always required to remove electrons

from an atom and hence ionization enthalpies
are always positive.

The second ionization enthalpy will be higher

than the first ionization enthalpy because it is
more difficult to remove an electron from a
positively charged ion than from a neutral atom.
In the same way the third ionization enthalpy
will be higher than the second and so on. The
term “ionization enthalpy”, if not qualified, is
taken as the first ionization enthalpy.
Energy is always required to remove
electrons from an atom and hence
ionization enthalpies are always
positive.
The second ionization enthalpy will
be higher than the first ionization
enthalpy because it is more difficult to
remove an electron from a positively
charged ion than from a neutral atom.
In the same way the third ionization
enthalpy will be higher than the
second and so on. The term
“ionization enthalpy”, if not qualified,
is taken as the first ionization
enthalpy.
We will find maxima at the noble
gases which have closed electron
shells and very stable electron
configurations. On the other hand,
minima occur at the alkali metals and
their low ionization enthalpies can be
correlated with their high reactivity.
 Shielding effect
In multi electron atoms , the electrons are present in
the outer most shell and they do not experience a
full positive charge hence they are shielded or
screened away from the nucleus.

For Eg:- in the same subshell the p-electrons will get

shielded away by the s-electron as p-electron is away
from the influence of nucleus and hence it s does not
experience a complete positive charge !
Ionisation and atomic
radius are correlated in 2
ways :-

(i) the attraction of

electrons towards the
nucleus, and (ii) the
repulsion of electrons from
each other. The effective
nuclear charge experienced
by a valence electron in an
atom will be less than the
actual charge on the
nucleus because of
“shielding” or “screening”
of the valence electron
from the nucleus by the
intervening core electrons.
 Anomalies
2s electron of lithium is shielded away.

The 2s electron in lithium is shielded from the nucleus by the inner

core of 1s electrons. As a result, the valence electron experiences a
net positive charge which is less than the actual charge of +3. In
general, shielding is effective when the orbitals in the inner shells
are completely filled. This situation occurs in the case of alkali
metals which have single outermost ns-electron preceded by a
noble gas electronic configuration.
When we move from lithium to fluorine across the second period,
successive electrons are added to orbitals in the same principal
quantum level and the shielding of the nuclear charge by the inner
core of electrons does not increase very much to compensate for
the increased attraction of the electron to the nucleus.

Thus, across a period, increasing nuclear charge outweighs the

shielding. Consequently, the outermost electrons are held more
and more tightly and the ionization enthalpy increases across a
period.

As we go down a group, the outermost electron being

increasingly farther from the nucleus, there is an increased
shielding of the nuclear charge by the electrons in the inner levels.

In this case, increase in shielding outweighs the increasing nuclear

charge and the removal of the outermost electron requires less
energy down a group.
It is easier to remove 2p electron of boron than 2s electron of
beryllium.
The first ionisation enthalpy of boron is slightly less than beryllium
though the former has a greater nuclear charge. When we consider
the same principal quantum level, an s-electron is attracted to the
nucleus more than a p-electron.
In beryllium, the electron removed during the ionization is an s-
electron whereas the electron removed during ionization of boron is
a p-electron.
The penetration of a 2s-electron to the nucleus is more than that of a
2p-electron; hence the 2p electron of boron is more shielded from the
nucleus by the inner core of electrons than the 2s electrons of
beryllium.
Therefore, it is easier to remove the 2p-electron from boron
compared to the removal of a 2s- electron from beryllium. Thus,
boron has a smaller first ionization enthalpy than beryllium
First ionisation enthalpy of oxygen is less than nitrogen.

The smaller first ionization enthalpy of oxygen compared to

nitrogen. This arises because in the nitrogen atom, three 2p-
electrons reside in different atomic orbitals (Hund’s rule) whereas
in the oxygen atom, two of the four 2p- electrons must occupy the
same 2p-orbital resulting in an increased electron-electron
repulsion. Consequently, it is easier to remove the fourth 2p-
electron from oxygen than it is, to remove one of the three 2 p-
electrons from nitrogen.
 Give reasons
Why are lanthanides and actinides placed separately at the bottom of the periodic table ?

(a) For convenience and systematic study of elements having similar properties.

(b) To maintain the structure of periodic table of classification by keeping elements with
similar properties in a similar way.

Elements like Zn , Pd, Cd are not considered transition elements ?

(a) As they have incompletely filled d-orbitals

Chemistry of Actinoids is complicated why ?

As they show large no of oxidation states

 Electron gain enthalpy
when an electron is added to a neutral gaseous atom (X) to convert it into a
negative ion, the enthalpy change accompanying the process is defined as the
Electron Gain Enthalpy (∆egH).

Electron gain enthalpy provides a measure of the ease with which an atom adds an
electron to form anion

X(g)+e– → X–(g)

Depending on the element, the process of adding an electron to the atom can be
either endothermic or exothermic

Added to the atom and the electron gain enthalpy is negative. For example, group
17 elements (the halogens) have very high negative electron gain enthalpies
because they can attain stable noble gas electronic configurations by picking up an
electron

On the other hand, noble gases have large positive electron gain enthalpies
because the electron has to enter the next higher principal quantum level leading
to a very unstable electronic configuration. It may be noted that electron gain
enthalpies have large negative values toward the upper right of the periodic table
preceding the noble gases.
As a general rule, electron gain
enthalpy becomes more negative
with increase in the atomic
number across a period. The
effective nuclear charge
increases from left to right across
a period and consequently it will
be easier to add an electron to a
smaller atom since the added
electron on an average would be
closer to the positively charged
nucleus. We should also expect
electron gain enthalpy to become
less negative as we go down a
group because the size of the
atom increases and the added
electron would be farther from
the nucleus
 electronegativity
A qualitative measure of
the ability of an atom in
a chemical compound
to attract shared
electrons to itself is
called
electronegativity.
Flourine has the
highest
electronegativity value
of 4.
It is the most
electronegative
element.
Non-metallic elements have strong tendency to gain electrons.
Therefore, electronegativity is directly related to that non-metallic
properties of elements.

It can be further extended to say that the electronegativity is

inversely related to the metallic properties of elements. Thus, the
increase in electronegativities across a period is accompanied by
an increase in non-metallic properties (or decrease in metallic
properties) of elements.

Similarly, the decrease in electronegativity down a group is

accompanied by a decrease in non-metallic properties (or increase
in metallic properties) of elements.
 Oxidation state
The valence equals to the number of electrons present in the
outermost shell.

The term oxidation state interchangeably means valence.

Fluorine has the oxidation state of -1 but in compounds like OF2 it

exhibits +2 oxidation state.

Oxidation state determines the oxidation number of the element.

 Chemical reactivity
Diagonal relationship refers to the relationship between certain
pairs of diagonally adjacent elements in the second and in the 3rd
period respectively.

This characteristic property is shown by s- and p-blocks

respectively.
he anomalous behaviour is attributed to their small size, large
charge/ radius ratio and high electronegativity of the elements. In
addition, the first member of group has only four valence orbitals
(2s and 2p) available for bonding, whereas the second member of
the groups have nine valence orbitals (3s, 3p, 3d).

As a consequence of this, the maximum covalency of the first

member of each group is 4 (e.g., boron can only form [BF4 ]− ,
whereas the other members of the groups can expand their
valence shell to accommodate more than four pairs of electrons
e.g., aluminium forms [AlF6 ]3- .

Furthermore, the first member of p-block elements displays

greater ability to form pπ – pπ multiple bonds to itself (e.g.
C=C,C≡C, N=N, N ≡ Ν) and to other second period elements (e.g., C
= O, C = N, C ≡ N, N = O) compared to subsequent members of the
same group.
Metallic character decreases from right to left whereas non
metallic character increases from left to right.

This is due to addition of electrons in various orbitals.

Elements which combine on the two extremes of the periodic

table form oxides like peroxides and super oxides.

Some are acidic basic and neutral or bette rknown as amphoteric

oxides

Metals from basic oxides , non metal form acidic oxides.

Among transition metals (3d series), the change in atomic radii is

much smaller as compared to those of representative elements
across the period. The change in atomic radii is still smaller among
inner-transition metals (4f series). The ionization enthalpies are
intermediate between those of s- and p-blocks. As a consequence,
they are less electropositive than group 1 and 2 metals.
The end.