Periodic Table and Metals Essay

Submitted By jcfireblade
Words: 948
Pages: 4
Open Document
* -------------------------------------------------
Metalloids
Metalloids

© 2010 FLVS
Between the metals and the nonmetals on the periodic table lies a small category of elements called the metalloids. A metalloid is a semiconductor that has some characteristics of metals and other characteristics more like nonmetals. The most important property of metalloids is that they are semiconductors, which means that they conduct electricity better than nonmetals, but not as well as metals. This property allows metalloids like silicon and germanium to play an important role in electronic devices like calculators, cell phones, and computers.
Alkali Metals

© 2010 FLVS
The elements in Group 1 of the periodic table are known as the alkali metals. These metals are extremely reactive, reacting with water and with most nonmetals. All of the alkali metals have a silvery appearance and they are soft enough to be cut with a knife. Alkali metals are so reactive that they do not occur in nature as pure elements; they are always found in compounds. Many of these compounds are essential to our lives, including being found in the fluids that fill and surround all of our cells. The metals of this group all have one valence electron, which they give up when they react to form ionic compounds.
Alkaline Earth Metals

© 2010 FLVS
The elements of Group 2 are called the alkaline-earth metals. These metals share similar properties because they each have two electrons in the s sublevel of their outermost energy level. Metals in Group 2 are harder, denser, and stronger than the metals in Group 1.
Although they are less reactive than the Group 1 alkali metals, the alkaline-earth metals are still too reactive to be found as pure elements in nature. Compounds containing alkaline-earth metals are found in the earth’s crust, in sea salts, and in gems and minerals like emerald and aquamarine.
Hydrogen and Helium

© 2010 FLVS
Hydrogen is placed in Group 1 on the periodic table because its electron configuration is 1s1, but it is actually a nonmetal that does not resemble the alkali metals in this group.
Helium has the electron configuration 1s2, meaning it has two valence electrons like the alkaline-earth metals in group 2. So, why is helium found in Group 18 with the noble gases? Like the other noble gases, helium has a full valence of electrons (remember that the first energy level only holds two electrons). There is a special stability related to a full valence, and helium shares this and other properties with the other nonmetals in Group 18.
Halogens

© 2010 FLVS
The elements in Group 17 are known as the halogens. The halogens are the most reactive of the nonmetals; they react with most metals to form ionic compounds known as salts. As pure elements, the halogens are diatomic molecules.
This means that the halogens bond in pairs, forming compounds such as F2, Cl2, and Br2. As you will learn, the high reactivity of the halogens is based on the presence of seven valence electrons, one electron short of having a full valence. Some of the halogens (F2 and Cl2) are gases at room temperature, while others are liquids (Br2) or solids (I2). The halogens are used in water purification, photography, insecticides, bleaches, plastics, and many other practical applications.
Noble Gases

© 2010 FLVS
Group 18, the group at the far right of the periodic table, contains nonmetals called the noble gases. The first noble gas to be discovered on Earth was argon, which was discovered in 1894 by the English physicists John Williams Strutt and William Ramsay.
Argon makes up one percent of Earth’s atmosphere, but it escaped notice for so long because it does
Show More

Related Documents: Periodic Table and Metals Essay

Trends And Main Group Metals

Trends and Main Group Metals I. Purpose The purpose of this lab is to identify periodic trends in the activity of the main group metals. II. Data Tables Comparison of Reactions Among Metals Reaction with Water Observatio ns (Compare the Rate of the Reactions) pH Li N/A Na N/A K N/A Mg 5 Ca 11 Reaction with Acid (1M) Observatio ns (Compare the Rate of…

Words 570 - Pages 3

Block: Periodic Table and Main Group Elements Essay examples

Blocks A block of the periodic table of elements is a set of adjacent groups. The respective highest-energy electrons in each element in a block belong to the same atomic orbital type. Each block is named after its characteristic orbital: s, p, d, f, g (no elements belonging to the g-block have been observed). The four blocks are s, p, d, and f. Elements in each block are colour coded in the background graphics, the periodic tables, and the element pages themselves. To see these colours, however…

Words 609 - Pages 3

4.06 Periodic Table Of Elements

4.06 Periodic Table of Elements My Goals for this Lesson: Explain how the periodic table is organized. Use the periodic table to obtain information. What: How would you arrange the breakfast cereals in a grocery store to make them easier to find? Try the activity. Why: Mendeleev’s Periodic Table Organizing the elements How did Mendeleev organize the 63 known elements in his table? He started by organizing the elements by their mass in ascending order. How was he able…

Words 714 - Pages 3

Periodic Table Essay

the periodic table organizes the elements according to general patterns of similarity. Below is a very small image of the periodic table. It is basically unreadable in terms of specific information, but it allows us to easily look at the periodic tables structure general trends. Figure %: A very small periodic table The vertical columns of the periodic table (marked by yellow stripes in the figure) are called groups. The horizontal rows are called periods. There are 18 groups and 7 periods…

Words 754 - Pages 4

Organization Of The Periodic Table Essays

Why is the Periodic Table important to me? • The periodic table is the most useful tool to a chemist. • You get to use it on every test. • It organizes lots of information about all the known elements. Pre­Periodic Table Chemistry ... • ...was a mess!!! • No organization of elements. • Imagine going to a grocery store with no organization!! • Difficult to find information. • Chemistry didn’t make sense. The Periodic Table Dmitri Mendeleev: Father of the Table HOW HIS WORKED... • Put elements in rows by increasing atomic weight…

Words 691 - Pages 3

Essay on atomic bonding

The Periodic Table Table of Contents Atomic structure and the periodic table Review the structure of the sub atomic particles in an atom. Be able to use the periodic table to determine the structure of an atom Atomic structure 1. Complete the following table Sub atomic particle Charge mass location Electron Negative 1/2000 of a proton or neutron In shells or orbits around the nucleus Proton Positive 1 Inside…

Words 2702 - Pages 11

Periodic Table 31 Essay

Periodic Table of the Elements Chapters 4 & 10 (31) Chapter 5 (32) Interactive periodic table Why is the Periodic Table important to me? • The periodic table is the most useful tool to a chemist. • You get to use it on every test. • It organizes lots of information about all the known elements. Pre-Periodic Table Chemistry … • …was a mess!!! • No organization of elements. • Imagine going to a grocery store with no organization!! • Difficult to find information. • Chemistry didn’t make sense…

Words 1646 - Pages 7

Trends And Main Group Metals Essay

Data Tables III. Graph (On Separate Graph Paper) IV. Calculations Percent Error: |Approximate Value – Exact Value| / |Exact Value| X 100 Approximate Value: 5.3 Exact Value: 5.91 |5.3 – 5.91| / |5.91| X 100 = 1.13% V. Questions 1. Which Group 1 metal, lithium, sodium, or potassium is most active? Cite your evidence. Potassium is the most active because it flamed up. It is also lower in the group. This could be seen through the video of the alkali earth metals in water and on the periodic table…

Words 659 - Pages 3

TRENDS IN THE PERIODIC TABLE Essay

TRENDS IN THE PERIODIC TABLE OBJECTIVES: as given MTERIAL/APPARATUS: as given PROCEDURE: Part One: Atomic Radii of Elements Graph of Atomic Radii of the First 20 Elements on the Periodic Table Graph of Ionization Energies of the First 20 Elements from the Periodic Table QUESTIONS/DISSCUSSIONS Part One: 1. What is the group name for the elements found at the peals of your graph? What is the group located on the periodic table. The group name of the elements at the peaks is Alkali Metals. The group…

Words 604 - Pages 3

Research Paper On Atoms

Everything is made from atoms, including you. Atoms are tiny particles that are far too small to see, even with a microscope. If people were the same size as atoms, the entire population of the world would fit into a box about a thousandth of a millimetre across! We usually imagine atoms as being like tiny balls: To make diagrams simpler we often draw atoms as circles: Elements There are over a hundred different types of atom, and these are calledelements. Each element has a special name…

Words 493 - Pages 2