UNIT 3

CLASSIFICATION OF ELEMENTS AND PERIODICITY IN PROPERTIES

 Periodic Table may be defined as an arrangement of all the known elements

according to their properties so that similar elements fall within the same vertical
column and dissimilar elements are separated.
EARLIER CLASSIFICATION OF ELEMETNS
DOBEREINER’S LAW OF TRIADS
 In 1829, Dobereiner arranged the known elements of at that time in the ascending
order of atomic masses.
 He found out three elements group called triad.
 In a triad, the properties of the middle elements are the average of the other two.
 This law is known as Dobereiner’s law of triads.
 Eg: Li, Na, K Cl, Br, I Ca, Sr, Ba
 Atomic mass of Li = 7
 Atomic mass of K = 39
7  39
 Atomic mass of Na =  23
2
NEWLANDS’ LAW OF OCTAVES
 In 1865, Newlands arranged all the known elements of at that time in the ascending
order of atomic masses.
 He observed that the properties of the eighth elements are the simple repetitions of
the first one like eighth note in an octave in music.
 This law is known as Newlands law of octaves.
MENDELEEV’S PERIODIC TABLE
 In 1869, a Russian chemist Mendeleev arranged the known elements of at that time
in the ascending order of atomic masses.
 He observed that same properties are repeated in regular intervals and proposed a
law known as Mendeleev’s periodic law.
 The law states that “the physical and chemical properties of elements are periodic
functions of their atomic masses”.
 NOTE: Gallium and Germanium were unknown at the time Mendeleev published his
periodic table.
 He left a gap under aluminium and a gap under silicon. He called these elements
Eka-Aluminium and Eka-Silicon
MERITS OF MENDELEEV’S PERIODIC TABLE
 It was the first comprehensive classification of elements.
 He corrected the wrong atomic weights of some elements and placed them in correct
position in the periodic table.
 He left vacant places for undiscovered elements and predicted some of their
properties.
 Elements with similar properties are placed in the same group.
DEMERITS OF MENDELEEV’S PERIODIC TABLE
 Elements with dissimilar properties are found in same group.
 He could not give an exact position for hydrogen.
 He could not give exact position for Lanthanoids and Actinoids and also for isotopes.
 Did not strictly obey the increasing order of atomic weights.
MODERN PERIODIC TABLE
 Moseley’s work on the x-ray spectra of the elements reveals that atomic number is a
more fundamental property than atomic mass.
 On the basis of this, he put forward the modern periodic law.
 The law states that “the physical and chemical properties of elements are periodic
functions of their atomic numbers”.
PERIODS AND GROUPS
 The horizontal rows present in the modern periodic table are called periods.
 There are seven periods.
 The first period consists of 2 elements.
 Second and third period consists of 8 elements each.
 Fourth and fifth period consists of 18 elements.
 Sixth period consists of 32 elements.
 The last seventh period is an incomplete period.
 The vertical columns present in the modern periodic table are called groups.
 There are 18 vertical columns.
 Therefore 18 groups are present in the modern periodic table.
MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF ELEMENTS
 In the modern periodic table, elements are classified into four blocks.
 They are s, p d and f block elements.
 This classification is based on the orbital in which the last electron of the atom of the
element enters.
1. s-BLOCK ELEMENTS
 The elements in which the last electron enters the s orbital of their valence shell are
called s block elements.
 It consists of elements of group 1 and group 2.
 The ground state configuration of the valence shell is ns1 or ns2.
2. p-BLOCK ELEMENTS
 The elements in which the last electron enters the p orbitals of their valence shell are
called p block elements.
 It consists of group 13-18 except He.
 The ground state configuration of the valence shell is ns2np1 to ns2 np6.
3. d-BLOCK ELEMENTS
 The elements in which the last electron enters the d orbitals are called d block
elements.
 It consists of groups 3-12.
 The general electronic configuration is (n―1)d1―10ns1―2.
4. f-BLOCK ELEMENTS
 The elements in which the last electron enters the f orbitals are called f block
elements.
 Their general electronic configuration is (n―2)f1―14 (n―1)d0―1ns2.
TYPES OF ELEMENTS
1. REPRESENTATIVE ELEMENTS
 All the elements of the s and p block elements together constitute the representative
elements.
2. NOBLE GASES
 The elements of the 18th group are called noble gases or inert gases or rare gases.
3. TRANSITION ELEMENTS
 The d block elements i.e., elements of group 3―12 are called transition elements.
They are placed in between s and p block elements.
4. INNER TRANSITION ELEMENTS
 The f block elements are called inner transition elements.
 It consists of Lanthanides and actinides.
 The elements coming after Lanthanum are called lanthanides.
 The elements coming after actinium are called actinides.
CLASSIFICATION OF ELEMENTS INTO METALS AND NON METALS
 More than 75% of all known elements are metals.
 They appear on the left side of the periodic table.
 They are usually solids at room temperature.
 They have high melting and boiling points.
 They are good conductors of heat and electricity.
 They are malleable and ductile.
 Non-metals are located at the top right hand side of the periodic table. Non-metals
are usually solids or gases at room temperature.
 They have low melting and boiling points. They are bad conductors of heat and
electricity.
 Metalloids or semi metals are elements which show both the properties of metals
and non metals.
 Eg: Boron, Silicon, Germanium, Arsenic, Antimony, Selinium, Tellurium and
Polonium.
NOTE
 The metallic character increases from top to bottom of a group.
 Non metallic character increases from left to right across a period.

NOMENCLATURE OF ELEMENTS WITH ATOMIC NUMBER

GREATER THAN 100
 According to the IUPAC system the elements are named using the numerical roots
for 0 and numbers 1-9.
 The roots are put together in the order of digits which make up the atomic number
and ‘ium’ is added at the end.
 The IUPAC names for the elements with Z above 100 are shown below.

Digit 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Name nil un bi tri quad Pent hex sept oct enn
Abbreviation n u b t q p h s o e

PERIODIC PROPERTIES
 Properties which are directly or indirectly related to the electronic configuration of
the elements.
 They show a regular gradation when we move from left to right across a period or
from top to bottom in a group.
 These properties are called periodic properties.
1. IONISATION ENERGY OR IONISATION POTENTIAL
 The minimum amount of energy required to remove the most loosely bound electron
from an isolated gaseous atom.

 M(g)  IE  M(g)  e

 The energy required to remove the first electron is called first Ionisation energy
(IE1).
 The energy required to remove the second electron is called second ionisation energy
(IE2).
 In general, IE2 > IE1.
FACTORS INFLUENCING IONISATION ENERGY
a) ATOMIC SIZE
 The larger the atomic size, smaller the ionisation energy.
 Smaller the atomic size, larger the ionisation energy.
b) NUCLEAR CHARGE
 Ionisation energy increases with increase in nuclear charge.
c) SHIELDING EFFECT
 The inner electrons repel the outer electrons and cut down the attractive force
 between the nucleus and the valence shell.
 This effect is known as shielding effect or screening effect.
 As the shielding increases the ionisation energy decreases.
d) EFFECT OF HALF FILLED AND COMPLETELY FILLED SUB LEVELS
 If an atom has half filled or completely filled sub levels, its ionisation energy is
higher than that expected from its position in the periodic table.
2. ELECTRON AFFINITY
 Electron affinity of an element may be defined as the energy released when an
isolated gaseous atom changed into an anion by accepting an electron.

X(g)  e  X   Energy

FACTORS INFLUENCING ELECTRON AFFINITY

a) ATOMIC SIZE
 Larger the size of the atom, the smaller will be the electron affinity and vice versa.
b) NUCLEAR CHARGE
 Greater the nuclear charge, greater the electron affinity.
c) ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION
 When the electronic configuration of the atom is stable, the less will be the
tendency of the atom to accept an additional electron.
 Hence lower will be the electron affinity.
 The electron affinity values of halogens are very high.
 Because of their strong tendency to accept an electron to attain the stable noble
gas configuration.
3. ELECTRONEGATIVITY
 It is defined as the tendency of an atom to attract the shared pair of electrons
towards itself.
 Small atoms are more electronegative because they attract electrons more strongly
than the larger ones.
 Atoms with nearly filled shells will have higher electronegativities than those with
less densely filled ones.
NOTE:
 The least electronegative element is cesium.
 The most electronegative element is fluorine.
SCALES OF ELECTRONEGATIVITY
 Electronegativity scale is an arbitary scale.
 They are based on various types of experimental data like bond energy, dipole moment,
ionisation potential and electron affinity.
 Most commonly used scales are
 Pauling’s Scale
  Mulliken’s Scale
 Sanderson’s Scale
 Allred-Rochow’s Scale
PAULING’S SCALE
 This scale is based on an empirical relation between the energy of a bond and the
electronegativities of bonded atoms.
MULLIKEN’S SCALE
 According to this scale, electronegativity could be regarded as the average of the ionization
energy and electron affinity of an atom
IE+EA
 Electronegativity =
2

ELECTROPOSITIVITY
 It is the tendency of an atom to lose the most loosely bound electron.
 It is directly related to the metallic character of elements.
 It depends on atomic size and nuclear charge.
 As the atomic radius increases, electropositivity increases.
 Along a period, electropositivity decreases from left to right.
 But down a group, it increases.
 So francium is the most electropositive element.
 Fluorine is the least electropositive element.
VALENCY
 It is the combining capacity of an element.
 Or, it is the number of electrons lost or gained by an atom during
a chemical reaction.
 Along a period, valency first increases upto the middle and then decreases (for s
and p block elements only).
 In a group, valency remains constant.
 Transition elements can show variable valency.
 Valency is numerically equal to oxidation number of the element.
 The difference is that oxidation number has a positive or negative sign but the
valency doesn’t.
PERIODIC TRENDS
a) Along a period
 The Ionisation energy, Electron Affinity and Electronegativity increases from left to
right along a period. This is because
 The decrease in atomic size of the elements along a period.
 The increase in nuclear charge on moving along a period.
 Decrease in shielding effect.
b) Along a group
 The ionisation Energy, Electron Affinity and Electronegativity decreases down the
group. This is because along a group
 The size of the atom increases.
 The nuclear charge decreases.
 Increase in shielding effect.
4. ATOMIC RADIUS
 It is defined as the distance from the centre of the nucleus to the valence shell of
the electrons.
 Atomic radius can be expressed in terms of any one of the following.
a) COVALENT RADIUS
 It is one half of the distance between the centres of the nuclei of two bonded atoms
of the same element.
 Eg: The inter nuclear distance between the covalently bonded Hydrogen atoms is
74 pm. The covalent radius of Hydrogen is 37 pm.
b) VANDER WAALS RADIUS
 It is one half of the distance between the centres of the nuclei of two non bonded
atoms of the adjacent molecules of the element in the solid state.
c) METALLIC RADIUS
 It is half the inter-nuclear distance separating the metal atoms in the metallic
crystal.
 Eg: The distance between two adjacent copper atoms in solid copper is 256 pm.
 The metallic radius of copper is 128pm.
d) IONIC RADIUS
 It is defined as the effective distance from the centre of the nucleus of an ion up to
which it has an influence on the electron cloud.
ISOELECTRONIC SPECIES
 Atoms and ions containing same number of electrons are called Iso-electronic
species.
 Eg: Na+ is isoelectronic with F―.
 O2― is isoelectronic with Mg2+.
 NO3― is isoelectronic with CO32―.
QUESTIONS
1. A cation is smaller than its parent atom but an anion is larger than its parent
atom. Give reason.
 A cation is smaller than its parent atom.
 Because it has fewer electrons while its nuclear charge remains the same.
 An anion is larger than the corresponding parent atom.
 Because the addition of one or more electrons.
  It would result in increased repulsion among the electrons and decrease in effective
nuclear charge.
2. The electron affinity of chlorine is higher than that of fluorine. Why?
 Fluorine atom is much smaller than chlorine atom.
 Due to this, there is much crowding of electrons in small space around the fluorine
nucleus.
 Due to this crowding, fluorine atom has less attraction for the outside electron in
comparison to chlorine in which the crowding of electrons is less due to the bigger
size of chlorine atom.
 As a result of this, electron affinity of fluorine is less than that of chlorine.
3. The Ionisation Energy of Nitrogen is greater than that of Oxygen. Why?
 The electronic configuration of Nitrogen is 1s2, 2s2, 2p3
 The electronic configuration of Oxygen is 1s2, 2s2, 2p4.
 In the case of Nitrogen atom, the p orbitals are half filled.
 Atoms with half-filled electronic configurations have extra stability.
 Therefore the ionization energy of Nitrogen is greater than that of Oxygen.
4. Transition elements were placed in groups 3 and group 12 of the periodic
table. Give any four characteristics of transition elements.
 Transition metal exhibits variable valencies.
 Transition metal exhibits catalytic properties.
 Transition metal forms coloured ions.
 Transition metal can forms interstitial compounds.
5. The first ionization enthalpy sodium is lower than that of magnesium but its
second ionization enthalpy is higher than that of magnesium. Explain.
 The electronic configuration of sodium is 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s1.
 The energy required to remove the first electron (3s1) is called first ionization
energy.
 Therefore its electronic configuration becomes 1s2, 2s2, 2p6.
 This is a stable configuration.
 Therefore to remove the second electron very high ionization enthalpy is required.
 Hence the second ionization enthalpy is higher than that of magnesium.
6. Phosphorus forms PCl5 while nitrogen cannot form NCl5. Why?
 Nitrogen lacks d-orbitals in its valence shell and hence its covalency is limited to
four.

 Therefore, Nitrogen does not form NCl5.

7. Observe the following graph in which the first ionisation enthalpies of

elements of the second period are plotted against their atomic numbers (Z):
Identify the anomalous values and justify.
 
 Be and N show anomalous values because Be has a stable, completely filled 2s2
electronic configuration and N has a stable half-filled 2p3 electronic configuration.
8. Analyze the following graph between ionization enthalpy and atomic
number.


What do you observe from the graph? Give justification for your observation.
 Ionisation energy decreases with increase in atomic number because atomic size
increases.
9. A graph showing the variation of atomic radius with atomic number
for alkali metals is given below.

Comment on the variation of atomic radius with increase in atomic number in a

group. Give reason.
 As the atomic number in a group increases, atomic radius increases because the
number of shells increases.
10. A graph of atomic radius verses atomic number is given below:
 
What do you understand from this graph?
 As the atomic number increases, the atomic radius decreases.
11. Why is potassium considered as an s-block element?
 The electronic configuration of potassium is 1s 2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s1.
 In potassium the valence electron enters into the s-orbital of the valence shell.
 Therefore potassium is considered as an s-block element.
12. Names of elements with atomic numbers greater than 100 are
given by IUPAC
a) The atomic number of the element with IUPAC name ‘Ununbium’
is …………….
 Answer: 112
b) What would be the name for the element with atomic number 104?
 Answer: ‘unnilquadium’.
c) The IUPAC name of the element with atomic number 109 is ……..
 Answer: unnilennium