CLASSIFICATION OF ELEMENTS AND PERIODICITY IN PROPERTIES

1. Dobereiner’s law of triads – When similar elements are arranged in groups of

three , the atomic weight of the middle element is approximately the
arithmetic mean of the other two. These groups of 3 elements is called
Dobereiner’s triads . Example – Li , Na , K ( atomic mass of Na = 23 which is
the average of the other two, ie (39+7)/2
2. Newland’s law of octaves – When elements are arranged in the increasing
order of atomic weights, properties of every eighth is similar to the first.
Ex – Li , Be , B , C, N , O , F , Na
3. Lother – Meyer atomic volume curve – He ploted a graph between the atomic
volumes ( gram atomic weight/density ) and atomic weights of elements of
elements and observed that elements with similar properties occupied similar
positions on the curve. Ex – the strongly electropositive alkali metals occupy
the peak on the curve.
4. Mendeleev’s periodic law – It states that the physical and chemical
properties of elements are a periodic function of their atomic weights.
5. Mendeleev’s periodic table – Had 6 periods and 8 groups.
6. Merits of Mendeleev’s periodic table –
i) Prediction of new elements- At his time only 56 elements were
known. So while arranging the elements according to their properties,
he left vacant spaces for some unknown elements and even predicted
their properties based on their positions.
Ex - He left gap under Al and called it Eka-aluminium (now called
Gallium ) and gap under silicon and called it Eka-silicon ( now called
Germanium). When these elements were discovered , their properties
were similar to those predicted by Mendeleev.
ii) Correction of doubtful atomic weights – He corrected atomic weight
of Be from then accepted value 13.5 to 9 according to its properties.
7. Demerits of Mendeleev’s periodic table –
i) Anomalous position of hydrogen (placed in group I A)
ii) Anomalous pairs of elements- Ar ( at.mass 39.9) precedes K (39.1)
Co ( at.mass 58.9 ) precedes Ni ( 58.7) and Te ( at.mass 127.6 )
precedes I ( 126.9)
iii) Position of isotopes – isotopes with different atomic weights are not
given separate positions.
iv) Some dissimilar elements are grouped together while some similar
elements are placed in different groups.
v) Position of elements of group VIII- No proper place allotted to the 9
elements of group VIII.
8. Modern periodic law – by Moseley- It states that the physical and chemical
properties of elements are a periodic function of their atomic numbers .

1
9. Periodicity- Repetition of similar properties at regular intervals in the
periodic table.
10. Cause of periodicity- It is due to repetition of similar outer electronic
configuration at regular intervals
11. Long form of the periodic table –Also known as Bohr’s table.
12. Period –The horizontal rows in the periodic table. There are 7 periods in the
modern periodic table.
13. Group – The vertical columns in the periodic table. There are 18 groups in the
modern periodic table.
14. IUPAC nomenclature of elements with Z > 100 – REFER CW
15. Division of elements into s,p,d and f block- Based on the name of the orbital
which receives the last electron….Refer text
16. General electronic configuration of s,p,d and f block elements-
i) s – Block elements – ns1-2
ii) p – Block “ - ns2 np1-6
iii) d – Block “ - (n-1) d1-10 ns 1-2
iv) f – Block “ - (n-2) f1-14 (n-1)d0-1 ns2
17. General characteristics of s,p,d and f block elements-
a) s – Block elements -
i) They are all reactive metals and hence never found free in nature
ii) They have low ionization enthalpies.
iii) The metallic character and reactivity increase down the group.
iv) Their compounds are predominantly ionoic. ( exception Li and Be)
v) They lose valance electrons readily to form +1 ions (alkali metals)
and +2 ions ( alkaline earth metals)
vi) They are strong reducing agents.
b) p- Block elements –
i) They include both metals and non- metals
ii) They mostly form covalent compounds
iii) Their IE are higher than s block elements
iv) Some of them show more than one oxidation state in their
compounds
v) Their oxidizing character increases from left to right in a period and
reducing character increases from top to bottom in a group.
c) d – Block elements –
i) They show variable oxidation states
ii) Their compounds are generally coloured and paramagnetic
iii) They form coloured complexes
iv) They are good conductors of heat and electricity
v) Most of them form alloys
vi) They and their compounds can act as catalysts
d) f – Block elements –
i) They are heavy metals
ii) They have generally high melting and boiling points

2
 iii) They show variable oxidation states
iv) Their compounds are generally coloured
v) They have high tendency to form complexes
vi) Most of the actinoids are radioactive
18. Lantahnoids – also called rare earths – since they occur scarcely in the earth’s
crust.
19. Transuranic elements – The 11 elements which follow uranium in the
periodic table are called transuranic elements. Ex- 93Np, 94Pu, 95Am etc..
20. Metalloids /semi metals – The elements which show the properties of both
metals and non-metals are called metalloids. Ex – Ge, As, Sb, Te, Si
21. Prediction of period, group and block of a given element –
Note –
i) Period of an element – corresponds to the principal quantum number of the
valance shell
ii) Block of the element - corresponds to the type of orbital which receives the
last electron while writing the electronic configuration according to Aufbau
principle ( NOT after rearrangement)
iii) Group of an element -
a) s block elements – group number = number of valance electrons
b) p block elements – group number = 10 + total number of the
valence electrons
c) d block elements - group number = (n-1 )d e- + ns e-
d) f block elements – group number = All of them in group 3
EXAMPLES – REFER CW
22. Effective nuclear charge ( Zeff )– The actual charge felt by the valance
electrons.
23. Shielding effect/screening effect- The repulsive force felt by the valance
electrons from the electrons present in the inner shells.
Note - Zeff = Total nuclear charge (Z) – screening constant (σ )
24. Periodic properties of elements – The properties which show a regular
gradation when we move from left to right in a period or from top to bottom
in a group.
Examples-
i) Atomic and ionic radii – Distance from the centre of nucleus to the
outermost shell containing the electrons. ( It represents the overall size
of the atom/ion)
Related qns-
a) How does atomic radius vary in a period ? Give reason.
A – It decreases from left to right in a period. It is because within
the period, the outer electrons are in the same valance shell and
effective nuclear charge increases with increase in atomic number
which leads to increased attraction of electrons to the nucleus.
b) How does atomic radius vary in a group ? Give reason.

3
 A- It increases from top to bottom . It is because of the addition of
new shells and the increased shielding effect of the outer
electrons from the nucleus.

ii) Ionizaton energy (IE) - It is the energy required to remove an electron

from an isolated , gaseous atom in it ground state. It is usually
expressed in kJ/mol
X (g) + IE → X+ (g) + e-
Related qns –
a) How does ionisation energy vary in a period ? Give reason.
A- It increases from left to right in a period. It is due to increased
nuclear charge and decreased atomic size which makes the
removal of electron difficult.
b) How does ionisation energy vary in a group ? Give reason.
A- It decreases down the group. It is due to increase in atomic size
and increase in shielding effect which makes the removal of
electron easier.
c) Factors on which IE depends -
i) Nuclear charge – directly proportional
ii) Atomic size – Inversely proportional
iii) Penetration effect of the electrons – directly proportional ( in
the same shell s >p>d>f )
iv) Screening effect of inner electrons - Inversely proportional
v) Electronic configuration – Half filled and completely filled
orbials have extra stability. Therefore removal of electron
requires extra energy and IE increases.
iii) Electron gain enthalpy- When an electron is added to a neutral
gaseous atom to convert it into a negative ion, the enthalpy change
accompanying the process is defined as electron gain enthalpy (ΔegH)
X (g) + e- → X- (g) , ΔH = ΔegH
Note - Electron gain enthalpy is just the negative of electron affinity
Related qns –
a) How does electron gain enthalpy vary in a period ? Give reason.
A- It becomes more and more negative from left to right in a
period(means electron affinity increases). It is due to decrease
in atomic size and increase in nuclear charge which increases
the attraction by the nucleus for the incoming electron.
b) How does electron gain enthalpy vary in a group ? Give reason.
A – It becomes less negative down the group (means electron
affinity decreases). It is because the atomic size increases down the
group and hence the attraction of the nucleus for the incoming
electron decreases.
c) Factors on which electron gain enthalpy depends-

4
 i) Atomic size - becomes less negative with increase in
atomic size
ii) Nuclear charge – becomes more negative with increase in
nuclear charge
iii) Electronic configuration- highly positive values shown by
elements with stable electronic configurations- as energy
has to be supplied to add the electron by overcoming the
inter - electronic repulsions.
iv) Electronegativity- The ability of an atom in a chemical compound to
attract the shared pair of electrons to itself is called electronegativity.
Note- Unlike IE and ΔegH, it is not a measurable quantity.
Related qns –
a) How does electronegativity vary in a period ? Give reason.
A- It increases from left to right in a period. It is because of
decrease in atomic size and increased attraction between the
nucleus and the valance electrons.
b) How does electronegativity vary in a group ? Give reason.
A- It decreases down the group. It is due to increased atomic size and
decreased attraction between the nucleus and the valance
electrons
v) Valency – It is the combining capacity of an atom.
Note – i) In a period , valency increases from 1 to 4 ( upto group 14 )
and then decreases.
ii) In a froup , the valency remains the same because of same number
of valance electrons in all the elements in a group.
iii) Valency of noble gases is ZERO – since they have completely
filled valance shell and are chemically inert.
25. Isoelectronic species – Atoms and ions which contain the same number of
electrons are called isoelectronic species.
Ex - Na+, Mg2+, Al3+, F-, O2-, N3-, F are all isoelectronic species with 10 e-
26. Polarizing power- The ability of a cation to distort an anion. Smaller the size
and higher the charge on the cation, more is its polarising power.
27. Polarisability – The tendency of the anion to become polarised by the cation.
Bigger the size of the anion, higher is its polarisability.
28. Diagonal relationship – Similarity in properties of elements of second period
to the element in the third period and next group. ( ie diagonally adjacent
element)
Ex – Li and Mg, Be and Al , B and Si
29. Anomalous properties of second period elements – due to their small size,
high charge / radius ratio and high electronegativity.
30. Metallic radius- It is half the inter nuclear distance separating the metal cores
in the metallic crystal.

OTHER IMPORTANT QNS –

5
1. Why are lanthanoids and actinoids arranged separately below the
main periodic table ?
A- It is because all of them are f block elements and belong to 3rd
group. It is difficult to place all 14 elements in one group. Moreover
they have similar properties which are different from d block
elements. It also makes the periodic table stay in tabular form
which is not too wide.
2. Cations are smaller in size than neutral atom. Give reason.
A- A cation has fewer electrons while its nuclear charge remains the
same. In other words , it is due to increased effective nuclear
charge in a cation compared to the parent atom.
3. Anions are bigger in size than neutral atom . Give reason.
A- It is because addition of one or more electrons would result in
increased repulsion among the electrons and a decrease in
effective nuclear charge.
4. IE of Be is higher than that of B . Give reason.
A- It is due to
i) stable completely filled configuration of Be (1s2 2s2 )
compared to B ( 1s2 2s2 2p1)
ii) More penetrating effect of 2s electrons towards the nucleus
than 2p e-
5. The first IE of O is less than that of N although the nuclear charge of
O is higher than that of N. Give reason.
A- i) It is due to stable half filled EC of N ( 1s2 2s2 2p3) compared to O
(1s2 2s2 2p4)which is neither half filled nor completely filled.
ii) Removal of an e- from O can give it a stable half filled
configuration.
6. Halogens have the most negative electron gain enthalpy. Give
reason.
A- It is because of their ns2np5 configuration and hence having strong
tendency to accept an electron to attain noble gas configuration
ns2np6
7. The electron gain enthalpy of noble gases is positive. Give reason.
A- It is because they have completely filled valence shell. The
incoming e- has to be placed in next higher shell which requires
input of energy.
8. Electron gain enthalpy of F is less than that of Cl. Give reason.
A – It is due to small size of F. As a result of small size, the electron-
electron repulsion in the relatively compact 2p subshell is high and
hence the incoming e- is not accepted with the same ease as in the case
of bigger 3p subshell of Cl. [ F- 1s22s22p5 , Cl- 1s22s22p63s23p5]
9. Electron gain enthalpy of O is less than that of S . Give reason.

6
 A - It is due to small size of O. As a result of small size, the electron-
electron repulsion in the relatively compact 2p subshell is high and
hence the incoming e- is not accepted with the same ease as in the case
of bigger 3p subshell of S . [ O - 1s22s22p4 , S - 1s22s22p63s23p4]
10. First IE of Na is less than that of Mg, but second IE of Na is more
than tha tof Mg. Give reason .
A- Na – [Ne]10 3s1 Mg- [Ne]103s2
Sodium has one valance e- in 3s1 and by losing this e- it attains noble
gas configuration. Na is bigger is size than Mg as well (same
period).Therefore IE1 of Na is less than that of Mg.
After removing an e-, Na attains noble gas configuration whereas Mg
has one e- left. High energy is required to remove an e- from a noble
gas configuration. Therefore IE2 of Na is higher than that of Mg.

11. Name the element with:

i) Highest IE = He
ii) Highest EGE = Cl