IGCSE Chemistry

8 - The Periodic Table

Groups, Periods and Electron Shells

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 The Periodic Table
● Specification Points 1.18, 1.22 and 1.23
○ Understand how elements are arranged in the periodic table.
○ Understand how the electronic configuration of a main group element is related to its position in the periodic table.
○ Understand why elements in the same group of the periodic table have similar chemical properties.
● The periodic table is a table that displays all known chemical elements.
○ There are around 100 known chemical elements.
● Elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic number.
○ This means that each element has 1 more proton than the element before it.
● The vertical columns of the periodic table are called groups.
○ The group an element belongs to depends on how many electrons are present in its outer shell.
■ Elements in group 1 have 1 electron in their outer shell.
○ Elements in the same group have similar properties.
● The horizontal rows of the periodic table are called periods.
○ Each period indicates how many electron shells an element has.
■ Elements in period 3 will have 3 electron shells.

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 The periodic table. Groups 1 and 2 are called the reactive metals. The transition metals in the
middle of the table are not given a group. The right hand side of the table (groups 3-7) are a mixture of
metals and nonmetals. Elements in group 0 are called the noble gases.

GROUP 0

GROUP
GROUP 2 KEY GROUP 3 GROUP 4 GROUP 5 GROUP 6 GROUP 7
1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3 TRANSITION METALS

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

PERIOD 7

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Dmitri Mendeleev proposed the first working
model of the periodic table in 1869.

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 Electron Shells
● The structure of an atom can be illustrated using
electron shell diagrams.
○ Elements in the same group have the same number of electrons
in their outer shell.
○ The number of electrons in the outer shell determines the CARBON
chemical properties of the element.
● Electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom in shells.
○ Shells that are closer to the nucleus have less energy than those
which are further away.
○ The lowest energy shells are always filled first.
● Only a certain number of electrons can fit in each The element carbon has 2 electron shells.
shell. 2 electrons are present in the first shell and
4 electrons are present in the second shell.
○ 2 electrons can fit in the first shell.
The electron configuration of carbon is
○ 8 electrons can fit in any subsequent shell. thus said to be 2.4.

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Element Atomic Number Electron Configuration

Hydrogen 1 1

Helium 2 2

Lithium 3 2.1

Beryllium 4 2.2
Specification Point 1.19 - Understand how
Boron 5 2.3 to deduce the electronic configurations of
the first 20 elements from their positions
Carbon 6 2.4 in the periodic table.
Nitrogen 7 2.5

Oxygen 8 2.6

Fluorine 9 2.7

Neon 10 2.8

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 Element Atomic Number Electron Configuration

Sodium 11 2.8.1

Magnesium 12 2.8.2

Aluminium 13 2.8.3

Silicon 14 2.8.4
Specification Point 1.19 - Understand how
Phosphorous 15 2.8.5 to deduce the electronic configurations of
the first 20 elements from their positions
Sulphur 16 2.8.6 in the periodic table.
Chlorine 17 2.8.7

Argon 18 2.8.8

Potassium 19 2.8.8.1

Calcium 20 2.8.8.2

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Sodium (Na) contains 3 electron shells
so is placed within period 3. It also
contains 1 outer shell electron, so is
placed within group 1. The electron
configuration of sodium is 2.8.1.

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 Metals and Non-Metals
● Specification Points 1.20 and 1.21
○ Understand how to use electrical conductivity and the acid-base character of oxides to classify elements as metals or non-
metals.
○ Identify an element as a metal or a non-metal according to its position in the periodic table.
● Elements are classified as metals or non-metals.
○ In the periodic table, metals are on the left-hand side, non-metals are on the right-hand side.
● Metals conduct electricity.
○ Electrical charge can easily pass through metallic elements.
● Some metals react with oxygen to form metal oxides.
○ Metal oxides dissolve in water to form alkaline solutions.
○ Metal oxides are sometimes referred to as basic.
● Non-metals do not conduct electricity.
● Some non-metals react with oxygen to form non-metal oxides.
○ Non-metal oxides dissolve in water to form acidic solutions.

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Copper (Cu) is a metal with a very high
electrical conductivity.

As a consequence, copper is often used

to create wiring looms.

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 The metallic elements occupy the left-hand side of the periodic table.

The non-metals (with the exception of hydrogen), occupy the right-hand side.

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 The Noble Gases
● Specification Point 1.24
○ Understand why the noble gases do not readily react.
● Elements in group 0 are called the noble gases.
○ Group 0 is to the far right of the periodic table.
○ The noble gases include helium (He), neon (Ne) and argon (Ar), among others.
● The noble gases are inert.
○ This means that they do not react with other elements.
● Noble gases have a complete outer shell of electrons.
○ Their outer shells contain 8 electrons.
○ This means a lot of energy is required to add or remove an electron.

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Neon (Ne) is a noble gas that yields a
distinctive orange glow when a
voltage is passed through it.

Neon is often used to illuminate signs.

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Group I Properties & Trends: Basics
The Group I metals
• The Group I metals are also called the alkali metals
as they form alkaline solutions with high pH
values when reacted with water
• Group I metals are lithium, sodium, potassium,
rubidium, caesium and francium
• They all contain just one electron in their outer
shell
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Physical properties of the Group I metals
• Are soft and easy to cut, getting even softer and denser as
you move down the Group (sodium and potassium do not
follow the trend in density)

• Have shiny silvery surfaces when freshly cut

• Conduct heat and electricity

• They all have low melting points and low densities

compared to other metals, and the melting
point decreases as you move down the Group; some would
melt on a hot day 16
Chemical properties of the Group I
metals
• They react readily with oxygen and water vapour
in air so they are stored under oil to stop them
from reacting
• Group I metals will react similarly with water,
reacting vigorously to produce an alkaline metal
hydroxide solution and hydrogen gas
• The Group I metals get more reactive as you look
down the group, so only the first three metals are
allowed in schools for demonstrations 17
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 Explaining the trend in reactivity in
Group I
• The reactivity of the Group 1 metals increases as you go down the group
• Each outer shell contains only one electron so when they react, they lose the
outer electron which empties the outermost shell
• The next shell down automatically becomes the outermost shell and is already
full, hence the atom obtains an electronic configuration which has a full outer
shell of electrons and is stable
• As you go down Group 1, the number of inner complete shells of electrons
increases by 1 per row (period number increases down the Periodic Table)
• This means that the outer electron is further away from the nucleus so there
are weaker electrostatic forces of attraction
• This requires less energy to overcome the electrostatic forces of attraction
between the negatively charged electron and the positively charged nucleus
• This allows the electron to be lost more easily, making the Group I metal atoms
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more reactive as you go down the group
Properties of other Alkali Metals
(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 20
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Group VII Properties & Trends
• These are the Group VII non-metals that are poisonous and
include fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine
• Halogens are diatomic, meaning they form molecules
of two atoms
• All halogens have seven electrons in their outer shell
• They form halide ions by gaining one more electron to
complete their outer shells
• Fluorine is not allowed in schools so observations and
experiments tend to only involve chlorine, bromine and
iodine
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Properties of the halogens
• At room temperature (20 °C), the physical state of
the halogens changes as you go down the group
• Chlorine are is a pale yellow-green gas, bromine
is a red-brown liquid and iodine is a grey-
black solid
• This demonstrates that the density of the
halogens increase as you go down the group

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• Reactivity of Group VII non-metals increases as you go up the
group (this is the opposite trend to that of Group I)
• Each outer shell contains seven electrons and when the halogen
reacts, it will need to gain one outer electron to get a full outer shell
of electrons
• As you go up Group VII, the number of shells of
electrons decreases (period number decreases moving up the
Periodic Table)
• This means that the outer electrons are closer to the nucleus so
there are stronger electrostatic forces of attraction, which help to
attract the extra electron needed
• This allows an electron to be attracted more readily, so 26
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● Reaction of the halogens with halide ions in
displacement reactions
• A halogen displacement reaction occurs when a
more reactive halogen displaces a less reactive
halogen from an aqueous solution of its halide
• The reactivity of Group VII non-metals increases as
you move up the group
• Out of the three commonly used halogens, chlorine,
bromine and iodine, chlorine is the most reactive and
iodine is the least reactive 28
Halogen displacement reactions
Chlorine and bromine
• If you add chlorine solution to colourless potassium bromide
solution, the solution becomes orange as bromine is formed
• Chlorine is above bromine in Group VII so is more reactive
• Chlorine will therefore displace bromine from an aqueous
solution of metal bromide
• The least reactive halogen always ends up in elemental form
● potassium bromide + chlorine → potassium chloride +
bromine

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Bromine and iodine

• Bromine is above iodine in Group VII so

is more reactive
• Bromine will therefore displace iodine from an
aqueous solution of metal iodide
● magnesium iodide + bromine → magnesium
bromide + iodine

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