The Periodic Table & Trends

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IGCSE Chemistry CIE Your notes
8.1 The Periodic Table & Trends

Contents
8.1.1 T he Periodic Table
8.1.2 Periodic Trends
Page 1 of 11
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8.1.1 The Periodic Table

Your notes
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 horiz ontal 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
valency 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
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Your notes
All elements are arranged in the order of increasing atomic number from left to right
Valency
Valency (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:
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Your notes
Exam Tip
An easier way of remembering which number is the mass number and which is the atomic is:
Mass Number = The massive number i.e the larger of the two numbers.
The atomic number must be the smaller number.
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8.1.2 Periodic Trends

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

The electronic configuration is the arrangement of electrons into shells for an atom (e.g: the Your notes
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
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Your notes
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
Exam Tip
Electronic configurations can be shown with the numbers separated by commas or by full stops.
In this course commas are used, but you will often see full stops used elsewhere. Both are
accepted.
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Predicting Properties
Because there are patterns in the way the elements are arranged on the Periodic Table, there are Your notes
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
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Identifying Trends
EXTENDED Your notes
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
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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 Your notes
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
Exam Tip
For the extended course you may be asked to identify other trends in chemical or physical
properties of Group I metals, given appropriate data.
Firstly, ensure that the metals and associated data are written in either descending or ascending
order according the their position in the Group. Then look for general patterns in the data.
Page 11 of 11

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IGCSE Chemistry CIE Your notes

8.1 The Periodic Table & Trends

8.1.1 The Periodic Table

8.1.2 Periodic Trends

Periodic Trends & Electronic Configuration

The electronic configuration of chlorine as it should be written

The position of chlorine on the Periodic Table

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