Classification of Elements and Periodicity in Properties

03 May 2024 10:17

Introduction
Ques: Why do we need to classify elements?
Ans: It is difficult to study the properties of each element separately. So, in order to reduce our
burden we classify elements on some basis.

Periodic Table: Tabular arrangement of elements in such a way that elements having similar
properties are kept together.

Historical development of Periodic Table

1. Doberenier Triad Rule

He made group of three elements having similar chemical properties and called it triad.

He arranged element in group of three and such that the atomic mass of middle is the average of first
and third element in the group.

Limitation: only limited elements were arranged in this triad.

2. Newland octave rule

He arranged elements in increasing order of their atomic mass and observe that 1st and 8th element in
group having similar chemical properties like in the musical notes.

Now, 1st and 9th elements having similar properties because noble gases are introduced later after
making this table.

Limitation: No all elements discovered at that time can be fitted in this table.

3. Lother Meyer's Curve

He plotted a curve between atomic weight and atomic value for different elements and observe the
characteristic of elements.

He did this with other physical properties also like melting point, boiling point etc, to show the
similarities between elements
Observation:
1. Most electropositive(tendency to loose electron) elements, I.e. alkali metal(Li, Na, K, Rb,
Cs etc.), occupy the peak point of the curve.
2. Less electropositive elements, I.e., alkaline earth metal(Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba etc.), occupy
the descending order of the graph.
3. Metalloids (B, Se, As, Te, At etc. ) and transition metals occupy bottom part of the
curve.
4. Electronegative (tendency to gain electron) elements occupy ascending part of the
curve.
5. Except He, all noble gases are on ascending part of curve.

4. Mendeleev's Periodic Table

Law: According to him, the physical and chemical properties of the elements are the periodic functions
of their atomic mass.

This table was divided into 9 vertical column(group 0 to group 8) and 7 horizontal rows called period.

Some predictions: 1. Eka-Aluminium: Galium

2. Eka-silicon: Germanium

Limitation:
1. Position of hydrogen: it was not justified.
2. Position of isotope: table was arranged according to atomic mass, so isotope have different
masses but not such extra place was given to them.
3. Cause of Periodicity: He did not justified why elements exhibits similar properties when arranged
in order of their increasing atomic weight.
4. Anomalous pair of elements:

a. Tellurium and Iodine

b. Argon and potassium

All above classification are based on atomic mass.

Moseley's Experiment
He did an experiment in which he bombarded high speed electron on different metal surfaces and
obtained X-rays.

Graph with Z- straight line

Graph with A – zig-zag

5. Modern Periodic Table

• Proposed by Moseley.
• Based on atomic number

Law: Physical and chemical properties of the elements are periodic function of their atomic number.

Advantages over Mendeleev's Periodic Table

a. Position of Isotopes and anomalous pairs are justified as they are arranged on the basis of atomic
number.

• Each group consist of number of elements having same electronic configuration.

Period No Numbers of electrons Name

 1st 2 Very short

2nd & 3rd 8 Short

4th & 5th 18 Long

6th & 7th 32 Very Long

General Termology
Group 1: alkali metal
Group 2: alkaline earth metal
Group 15: Pnictogens
Group 16: Chalcogens
Group 3 to 12: Transition metals(d-block)
2nd & 3rd period: Typical elements
Group 17: Halogens
Group 18: Noble/Inert gas
F-Block: Inner transition elements

Metals(Cu,Ag,Au): Coinage metal

All elements of s and p block except noble gases are known as representative elements.

Exceptions

• Technetium(Tc) is man-made element

• Promethium(Pm) is only radioactive lanthanoids.
• Iridium(Ir) has highest density among metals.

If last electron enter in s,p,d,f sub-shell, then they are count in s,p,d,f block respectively.

Defects:
a. Position of hydrogen in not justified.
b. Cannot include lanthanoids and actinoids to main table.
c. Does not reflect the exact distribution in subshells.

IUPAC Nomenclature of Elements with z>100

 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
nil un bi tri quad pent hex Sept oct enn
n u b t q p h s o e
Ex: 193: Un + enn + tri + ium = Unenntrium (Uet)

Division of elements into block

S-block:
• All are metals
• Group is 1 and 2
• General electronic configuration: ns1-2
• Exception: He belongs to p block

Characteristic:
▪ Except Be and Mg, all impart characteristic color to the flame.
▪ These have low ionization energy.
▪ These are highly reactive.
▪ These are highly electropositive elements.

P-block:
• Consist of metals, non-metals and metalloids.
• Group is 13 to 18.
• General electronic configuration: ns2np1-6

Characteristic:
• Show more than one oxidation state.
• The compounds of this block are generally covalent although their ionic character increases down
the group.

D-block:
• Metals.
• All are non-radioactive
• Classified into four series. 3d,4d, 5d, 6d.
• General electronic configuration ns0-2 (n-1)0-10
• Group is 3 to 12.
• Z > 83 are al radioactive.

Characteristic:
• Have high melting point.
• Variable oxidation state.
• These elements having incompletely field d-subshell in their ground state or in their most
common oxidation state are called transition elements.

F-block:
• Lanthanoids = (57,70), (n-2)f1-14 (n-1)d0 or 1 ns2
• Actinoids = (89,102), (n-2)f0-14 (n-1)d0-2 ns2
• They form coloured compound.
• High melting and boiling point.
• Most common oxidation state is +3
• Actinoids show more oxidation state than lanthanoids.

Tricks to predict location of elements:

Period number: Maximum principal quantum number.
Group number:
Case 1: element belongs to S block: number of valence electron.
Case 2: element belongs to p-block: 10 + number of valence electron.
Case 3: element belongs to d-block: number of electron in (n-1)d subshell + number of electron in ns
subshell.
Case 4: element belongs to f-block: 3.

Noble gas(group 18) Period Electron configuration

2He 1 1s2

10Ne 2 2s22p6

18Ar 3 3s23p6
36Kr 4 4s24p6

54Xe 5 5s25p6

86Rn 6 6s26p6

118Og 7 7s27p6

Periodic Properties
1. Effective Nuclear Charge
The effective nuclear charge is the net charge an electron experiences in an atom with multiple
electrons.

Shielding/Screening effect: The inner layer of electrons acts as a shield between nucleus and the
outermost electron.

• If shielding effect increase, attraction for last electron decreases.

• If shielding effect decreases, attraction for last electron increases.

ns>np>nd>nf

Unielectron species, Z=Z*

Multielectron species, Z* = Z – sigma(screening /Shielding constant)

Slater's Rule

Rule 1: Write electronic configuration in the following manner, (1s2),(2s2,2p6),(3s2,3p6),(3d10),(4s2,4p6),

(4d),(4f14), etc.

Rule 2: Electron in the right of electron if interest doesnot contribute to shielding constant.

Rule 3: If electron belongs to (ns, np) block:

Contribution to sigma Nth shell (n-1) shell (n-2) or lower shell

0.35 0.85 1

Ex: find sigma of last electron of Ca, Ans:15.65

Rule 4: If electrn belongs to (nd,nf) block:

Contribution to sigma Nth shell (n-1) shell (n-2) or lower shell

0.35 1 1

In case of He, we take value 0.3 instead of 0.35

2. Atomic size
 Distance from the centre of nucleus to the outermost shell containing elctron.

Types of atomci radii

a. Covalent radii
It is half of the internucluear distance of a homonuclear diatomic moelcule bonded through a single
bond.

Note: Schomaker and Stevenson equation is used to calculate covalent radius for atoms which have
different electronegativity in a compound.
Ra-b = ra + rB - 0.09(Xa - Xb)

b. Van der waal radii

It is one-half of the internuclear distance between two identical nonbonded neighbouring atoms.

It can also be applied for other gases also.

c. Metallic radii
It is one half of the internuclear distance between the two adjacent atoms in the metallic lattice.

Van der waal's radii>Metallic radii>covalent radii

Factors affecting atomic radius

1. Number of the shells: directly proportional

2. Effective nuclear charge: Indirectly proportional
3. Shielding effect: directly proportional

On going from left to right in periodic table, size of atom decreases except noble gases as they have
biggest size among all the atoms present in same period.

On going from top to bottom in periodic table, size of atom increases.

4. Ionic Radii
It is the effective distance from the centre of the nucleus of the ion up to which it exerts its
influence on its electronic cloud.

• Radius of cation is always smaller than its parent atom.

• Radius of anion is always greater than its parent atom.

▪ In case of Isoelectronic species, greater the charge of cation, lesser the size.
▪ In case of Isoelectronic species, greater the charge of anion, greater the size of atom.

3. Ionisation enthalpy
Minimum energy required to remove most loosely outermost shell electron in ground state from an
isolated gaseous atom
Sign convention: 1. energy required = +ve
2. Energy released = -ve

Unit: J/mol

Ionisation potential: It is the amount of potential difference required to remove outermost electron
from an isolated gaseous atom
Unit: eV/atom

Successive Ionisation energy:

It will increase, I.E1 < I.E2 < I.E3 ......

Factors affecting ionisation energy

1. Size: inversely proportional

2. Effective nuclear charge: directly proportional
3. Penetration effect: it is the effect of electron to penetrate the nuvleus , or to present closer to the
nucleus.
** it is directly proportional **
ns>np>nd>nf

4. Electronic configuration: half filled and fully filled sub shell are extra stable.
Greater the stability, greater the ionisation energy.

5. Shielding effect: inversely proportional

On going from left to right in periodic table, I.E. of atom increases.

On going from top to bottom in periodic table, I.E. of atom decreases.

Ex:
Wrong order: Li<Be<B<C<N<O<F<Ne
Correct order: Li<B<Be<C<O<N<F<Ne

For alkali metal: I.E.2 is nearly equal to 7 to 14 times of I.E.1

For alkaline earth metal: I.E.3>>>>>>>I.E.2

For 13 group : I.E.4 >>>>>>I.E.3 (shell change)

Highest I.E is of He

4. Electron gain enthalpy

The amount of energy released or abosrbed when electron is added to the valence shell of neutral
isolated gaseous atom.

Depending upon element, electron gain ehthalpy may be endothermic or exothermic.

Electron affinity = - electron gain enthalpy

Successive E.A
 Cosider, here E.A is electron affinity and not electron gain enthalpy.

Magnitude of electron effinity is equal to magnitude of ionization energy

Factors affecting electron gain enthalpy

1. Size: inversely proportional

2. Effective nuclear charge: directly proportional
3. Electronic configuration: Half filled and fully filled are more stable(Inversely proportional)
4. Screening effect: inversely proportional

On going from left to right in periodic table, E.A of atom increases.

On going from top to bottom in periodic table, E.A. of atom decreases.

Ex:
Wrong order: Li<Be<B<C<N<O<F<Ne
Correct order: Ne<N<Be<Li<B<C<O<F

Exceptions
▪ Chlorine has highest electron gain enthalpy.
▪ Flourine has highest electronegativity.
▪ Group 17 has always more E.A than group 16
▪ Group 18 has positve electron gain enthalpy.Reason:Stable electronic configuration.
▪ Group 17 elements have highest –ve egH in their respective periods.
▪ Cl>F>Br>I>At{egH}
▪ S>Se>Te>Po>O{egH}
▪ From group 14 to 16, their 1st element has lowest egH
▪ N,B: positive egH
▪ Flourine has less egH than ClReason: F has small size and hence, electronix repulsion is higher in
flourine, so addition of an electron to flourine is difficult.
▪

5. Electronegativity
The tendency of an atom to attract shared electrons towards itself.

Oxidation state: hypothetical concept

Whose electronegativity is greater, oxidation state would be negative for it, and positive for other.

Factors affecting electron gain enthalpy

6. Size: inversely proportional

7. Effective nuclear charge: directly proportional
8. Hybridisation(Percentage s character): directly
9. Oxidation state: directly proportional

On going from left to right in periodic table, electronegativity of atom increases.

On going from top to bottom in periodic table,electronegativity of atom decreases.

Scales of electronegativity
1. Mulliken Scale

2. Pauling Scale(currently using)

3. Alred Rochow's

Nature of oxide:
The normal oxides of the elements at the extreme left of the periodic table are most basic in nature.
On the other hand, the elements at the extreme right react with oxygen to form most acidic oxides.
Oxides of the elements in the centre are amphoteric or neutral.

Arrange mettalic or non-metallic character on the basis of oxidation number.

Anomalous Properties of second period elements

Reason for anamalous behaviour of 2nd period element from rest of the4 members of their respective
group.

A) small size
B) High electronegativity
C) Large charge/radius ratio
D) Absence of vacant low lying d-orbitals

Max electron = 8, max. Covalency: 4

Diagonal Relationship
Li-Mg, Be-Al, B-Si