S-Block elements

 “ The element in which last electron enters into the outermost s-orbital then those elements are
called as s-block elements”
 S-block elements are classified into two groups those are IA and IIA

IA group elements:

 Group 1 consists of elements; lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and francium
 Group 1 elements are also called as “alkali metals” because oxides of these elements dissolves
in the presence of water molecule to form alkali [base] Li2O + H2O 2LiOH
Na2O + H2O 2NaOH
 Group 1 elements are more electropositive metals because they lose one electron to form uni
positive ion M M+ + e- [M = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr]

Electronic configuration: The general electronic configuration of group 1 elements is “ns 1”

Element Symbol Electronic configuration

Lithium Li [He] 2s1
Sodium Na [Ne] 3s1
Potassium K [Ar] 4s1
Rubidium Rb [Kr] 5s1
Caesium Cs [Xe] 6s1
Francium Fr [Rn] 7s1

Properties:
Atomic radius: In IA group elements atomic radius gradually increases from top to bottom, due to
electron enters into new shell

Ionization energy: The ionization energy/enthalpy of the alkali metals are considerably low and
decreases down the group, due to increase in atomic radius

Hydration enthalpy: The amount of energy released when metal interacts with water molecule is called
as hydration energy

 Hydration energy in alkali metal goes on decreases from top to bottom, due to increase in
atomic size Li+> Na+> K+> Rb+> Cs+
 In alkali metals Li is having more hydration energy due to its small size
 Fr is radioactive element in IA group

Physical properties:

 All the alkali metals are silvery white, soft and light metals, because of their large size
 These elements have low density which increases down the group from Li to Cs
 The melting and boiling points of the alkali metals are low indicating weak metallic bonding due
to the presence of only a single valence electron
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 Alkali metals exhibit color in the presence of flame

Metal Colour
Li Crimson red
Na Yellow
K Violet
Rb Red violet
Cs Blue
Chemical properties: The alkali metals are highly reactive due to their large size and low ionization
energy. The reactivity of these elements increases down the group

Reaction with water: Alkali metals react with water gives alkali
2Li + 2H2O 2LiOH + H2

Reaction with air: Alkali metals react with air oxygen to form metal oxides
They burn vigorously in oxygen forming oxides, lithium forms monoxide, sodium forms peroxide, the
other forms super oxides
The super oxide O2- ion is stable only in the presence of large Cations such as K, Rb, Cs
4Li + O2 2Li2O (oxide)
2Na + O2 Na2O2 (peroxide)
M + O2 MO2 (super oxides) (M= K, Rb, Cs)

Note: Alkali metals are normally kept in kerosene oil because of their high reactivity towards air and
water

Reaction with dihydrogen: The alkali metals react with dihydrogen to form metal hydrides
2M + H2 2MH

Reaction with halogens: The alkali metals readily react vigorously with halogens to form ionic halides
2M + CI2 2MCI

Note: LiCI shows covalent bond but remaining alkali metals shows ionic bond, due to its small size and
high polarizing power

Reaction with ammonia: The alkali metals dissolve in liquid ammonia giving deep blue solutions which
are conducting in nature. The blue color of the solution is due to the ammoniated electron which
absorbs energy in the visible region of light and thus imparts blue color to the solution
M+ (amm) + e- + NH3 MNH2 + ½ H2

Anomalous behavior of Li:

 Due its small size

 Due to high ionization energy
 Due to high electronegativity
 Due to absence of d-orbital
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Different characters of Li:

 All the alkali metals are soft but Li is hard

 All the alkali metals are having less melting point and boiling point but Li shows high melting
and boiling point
 All the alkali metals are highly reactive but Li is less reactive

Similar properties of Li and Mg:

 Li and Mg are hard and lighter

 The halides of both elements, soluble in ethanol
 Li and Mg are less reactive with water
 Li and Mg will not react with excess amount of oxygen to form super oxide

Some important compounds of sodium:

1) Sodium hydroxide, (NaOH):

 It is also called as “caustic soda”

 Sodium hydroxide can be prepared by castner-kellner cell
 In this process brine solution is electrolysed by using mercury as cathode and carbon as anode
 In this process Na+ is deposited on Hg and forms sodium amalgam (Na-Hg)
 Cl2 gas is liberated at anode
 Na-Hg reacts with H2O to form sodium hydroxide
electrolysed
NaCl Na+ + CI-
+ -
At cathode: Na + e + Hg Na-Hg
At anode: 2CI- CI2 + 2e-
2Na-Hg + 2H2O 2NaOH + 2Hg + H2

Uses:

 It used in petroleum industry

 It is used in manufacture of soap
 For the preparation of pure fats and oils
 In the purification of bauxite
 As a laboratory reagent

2) Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3):

 Sodium carbonate is also called as “washing soda”

 Sodium carbonate is generally prepared by Solvay process
 NH3 is treated with a mixture of CO2 and H2O to form ammonium carbonate
2NH3 + H2O + CO2 (NH3)2CO3

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 Ammonium carbonate is treated with H2O and CO2 to form ammonium hydrogen carbonate
(NH3)2CO3 + H2O + CO2 2NH4HCO3
 Ammonium hydrogen carbonate is treated with NaCI to form mixture of product that NH 4CI &
NH4HCO3
NH4HCO3 + NaCI NH4CI + NaHCO3
 Finally by warming/heating the NaHCO3 to give sodium carbonate
∆
2NaHCO3 Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2

Uses:

 It is used in water softening, laundering and cleaning

 It is used in the manufacture of glass, soap, borax and caustic soda
 It is used in paper, paints and textile industries
 It is an important laboratory reagent both in qualitative and quantitative analysis

3) Sodium hydrogen carbonates (NaHCO3): It is also called as “Baking soda”

Preparation: sodium carbonate is treated with mixture of CO2 & H2O to form sodium hydrogen carbonate
Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2 2NaHCO3

Uses:

 It is used as a component of baking powder

 It is used in the fire extinguisher
 It is used in medicine. It act as a mild antiseptic for skin infection

4) Sodium chloride (NaCI):

 The most important source of sodium chloride is sea water which contains 2.7 to 2.9% by mass
of the salt
 In tropical countries like India, common salt is generally obtained by evaporation of sea water
 To obtain pure sodium chloride, the crude salt is dissolved in minimum amount of water and
filtered to remove insoluble impurities. The solution is then saturated with hydrogen chloride
gas. Crystals of pure sodium chloride separate out. Calcium and magnesium chloride, being
more soluble than sodium chloride, remain in the solution

Uses:

 It is used as a common salt or table salt for domestic purpose

 It is used for the preparation of Na2O2, NaOH and Na2CO3

Biological importance of Sodium and Potassium:

Sodium:

 Sodium ion are present outside the cell

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 It is responsible for transmission of nerve signals

 It regulates the flow of water across the cell membrane
 It transfers the sugar and amino acids

Potassium:

 Potassium ions are present within the cell

 It is responsible for conversion of sugar into ATP molecule
 It is responsible for transfer of nerve signals

Note: why alkali metals are not found in Free State? Ans: alkali metals are more reactive because of
their electropositivity

Group II elements:

 The group 2 elements comprise beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium and radium
 These are also called as “alkaline earth metals” because oxides of 2 group elements dissolves in
water and these are found in earth crust

Electronic configuration:

Element Symbol Electronic configuration

Beryllium Be [He] 2s2
Magnesium Mg [Ne] 3s2
Calcium Ca [Ar] 4s2
Strontium Sr [Kr] 5s2
Barium Ba [Xe] 6s2
Radium Ra [Rn] 7s2
The general electronic configuration of IIA group element is “ns2”
Like alkali metals, the compounds of these elements are predominantly ionic

Properties:
Atomic radius: In IIA group elements the atomic radius goes on increases as we move from top to
bottom because electrons enters into new shell

Ionization enthalpies: The alkaline earth metals have low ionization enthalpies due to fairly large size of
the atoms. Since the atomic size increases down the group, their ionization enthalpy decreases.
The first ionization enthalpy of the alkaline earth metals is higher than those of the corresponding group
1 metals. This is due to their small size as compared to the corresponding alkali metals

Hydration energy: In IIA group elements hydration energy decreases from top to bottom due to increase
in atomic size.
Be has more hydration energy in IIA group Be+2>Mg+2>Ca+2>Sr+2>Ba+2>Ra+2

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Physical properties:

 The alkaline earth metals, in general, are silvery white, lustrous and relatively soft but harder
than the alkali metals
 The melting and boiling points of these metals are higher than the corresponding alkali metals
due to smaller sizes
 These are strongly electropositive in nature because low ionization enthalpy
 The electropositive character increases down the group from Be to Ba
 Calcium, strontium and barium impart characteristic brick red, crimson and apple green color
respectively to the flame

Chemical properties:

Reaction with air: Be and Mg are inert elements they react with O2 in their finally dividing state to form
metal oxides Ex: BeO, MgO, CaO…etc

Reaction with halogens: IIA group elements react with halogen form metal hydrides
M + X2 MX2 (M= F, CI, Br, I)

Reaction with acids: The alkaline earth metals react with acids liberating dihydrogen
M + 2HCI MCI2 + H2

Reaction with hydrogen: All the elements except beryllium combine with hydrogen upon heating to
form their hydrides, MH2. BeH2, however can be prepared by the reaction of BeCI2 with LiAIH4
2BeCI2 + LiAIH4 2BeH2 + LiCI + AICI3

Anomalous behavior of Be:

 Due to small atomic size

 Due to high electronegativity
 Due to high ionization energy
 Due to absence of d-orbital

Diagonal relationship between Be and AI:

 Be and AI shows similar size

 They don’t react with acids because they form oxide film
 Be and AI chlorides form a bridge bond vapour phase
 They have strong tendency to form complexes BeF4-2, AIF6-3

Some important compounds of calcium:

1) Calcium oxide or quick lime (CaO): It is prepared on a commercial scale by heating lime stone (CaCO 3)
CaCO3 CaO (QUICK LIME) + CO2
The addition of limited amount of water breaks the lump (a compact mass of substance without a

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definite or regular shape) of lime. Quick lime is mixed with water to form slaked lime [Ca (OH) 2]
CaO + H2O Ca (OH) 2

Uses:

 It is an important primary material for manufacturing “cement” and it is cheapest form of alkali
 It is used in the purification of sugar
 It is used in the preparation of sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide

2) Calcium hydroxide (slaked lime), Ca (OH) 2: It is a white amorphous powder. It is sparingly soluble in
water. The aqueous solution is known as lime water and a suspension of slaked lime water is known as
milk of lime.
Calcium hydroxide is prepared by adding water to quick lime (CaO)
CaO + H2O Ca (OH) 2

Uses:

 It is used in the building material and mortar (a cup shaped receptacle in which ingredients are
crushed)
 It is used in glass making, in tanning industry (tanning is the process of treating skins and hides
of animals to produce leather)
 It is used in white wash due to its disinfectant nature

3) Calcium carbonate (CaCO3): Calcium carbonate occurs in nature in several forms like limestone, chalk,
marble etc. it can be prepared by passing carbon dioxide through slaked lime or by the addition of
sodium carbonate to calcium chloride
CaCO3 + CO2 CaCO3 + H2O
CaCI2 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + 2NaCI

Uses:

 It is used as a building material in the form of marble

 Calcium carbonate along with magnesium carbonate is used as a flux in the extraction of metal
such as iron
 Specially precipitated CaCO3 is extensively used in the manufacture of high quality papers
 It is also used in antacid

3) Calcium sulphate (CaSO4): It is hemihydrates of calcium sulphate are called “plaster of Paris”
[CaSO4.1/2H2O]. It is obtained when gypsum [CaSO4.2H2O] is heated to 393K.
2[CaSO4.2H2O] 2(CaSO4).H2O + 3H2O

Uses:

 The largest use of plaster of Paris is in the building industry as well as plasters
 It is used in making of statue
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 It is used in fixing of broken bone

Biological importance of magnesium and calcium:

Magnesium: It activates the phosphate transferase enzyme.

It is present in chlorophyll which is responsible for photosynthesis

Calcium: it is responsible for blood coagulation (clotting).

Calcium gives strength to bones and teeth’s.
99% of body calcium present in bones and teeth

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