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Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Your notes

Chemistry
The Periodic Table & Trends
Contents
The Periodic Table
Periodic Trends

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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

The period number

Periods are the horizontal rows that show the number of shells of electrons an atom has and are
numbered from 1 - 7
Elements in Period 2 have two electron shells, elements in Period 3 have three electron shells

The group number

Groups are the vertical columns that show how many outer electrons each atom has
They are numbered from 1-7 with a final group called Group 0 (instead of Group 8)
Group 4 elements have atoms with 4 electrons in the outermost shell, Group 6 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
Sodium is in Group 1, it will lose 1 electron and form an ion with a 1+ charge
Magnesium is in Group 2, it will lose 2 electrons and form an ion with a 2+ charge
For non-metals in Group 7 and 6, they will gain 1 and 2 electrons respectively to gain a full outer shell
E.g. non-metals in Group 7 gain 1 electron to form ions with a 1- charge
Non-metals in Group 6 gain 2 electrons to form ions with a 2- charge

The Periodic Table

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Your notes

All elements are arranged in the order of increasing atomic number from left to right

Examiner Tip
The group number is always labelled on the periodic table but the period number isn't.
Don't forget that hydrogen and helium are in Period 1.

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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 outer 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

Property Metal Non-metal

Electron arrangement 1-3 outer shell electrons 4-7 electrons in the outer shell
(more in Periods 5+ 6)

Bonding metallic covalent

Electrical conductivity good conductors poor conductors

Type of oxide basic oxide acidic oxides

Reaction with acids many react with acids do not react with acids

Physical characteristics malleable brittle

high melting and boiling point low melting and boiling point

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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

Periodic trends & electronic Configuration

The electronic configuration is the arrangement of electrons into shells for an atom
E.g. the 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

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The last notation shows the number of outer electrons the atom has, showing the group number
Example: Electronic configuration of chlorine:
Your notes

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 1 and can react with elements in Group 7 to form an
ionic compound by reacting in a similar manner
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

Examiner 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 also Your notes
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 1 elements react very quickly with water
Noble gases are unreactive
Transition elements are denser than Group 1 elements
Reactivity decreases going down Group 7
Melting point decreases going down Group 1
In this way the Periodic Table can be used to predict how a particular element will behave

Identifying Trends
Extended tier only
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 1 metals
The table below shows the reactions of the first three elements in Group 1 with water
Observations of lithium, sodium, and potassium with water

Element Reaction Observations

Li lithium + water → lithium hydroxide + hydrogen Relatively slow reaction

2Li (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2LiOH (aq) + H2 (g) Fizzing

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Lithium moves on the surface of the

water
Your notes
Na sodium + water → sodium hydroxide + More vigorous fizzing
hydrogen
Moves rapidly on the surface of the
2Na (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2NaOH (aq) + H2 (g) water
Dissolves quickly

K potassium + water → potassium hydroxide + Reacts more vigorously than sodium

hydrogen
Burns with a lilac flame
2K (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2KOH (aq) + H2 (g)
Moves very rapidly on the surface
Dissolves very quickly

The observations show that reactivity of the Group 1 metals increases as you go down the group
Using this information we can predict the trend going further down Group 1 for the elements rubidium,
caesium and francium
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 reactive at
the bottom
Francium is rare and radioactive so is difficult to confirm predictions

Element Observations

Rb Explodes with sparks

Cs Violent explosion due to rapid production of heat and hydrogen

Fr Too reactive to predict

Examiner Tip

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For the extended course you may be asked to identify other trends in chemical or physical
properties of Group 1 metals, given appropriate data.
Your notes
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.

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