ATOMIC RADIUS
By: Elizabeth, Keara, Jimmy, and Louis
Defining the Trend:
The atomic radius of a chemical element is a measure of the size of its atoms, usually the mean or typical distance from the nucleus to the boundary of the surrounding cloud of electrons.
Stating Trends:
Group: As you move to the down the atomic radius Increases.
Period: As you move to the right the atomic radius decreases.
Explaining Why:
As you move down the atomic radius increases.
Reason: There is a jump in size of the nucleus (protons +neutrons ) when going down in groups. New energy levels of elections clouds are added to the atom when moving down in groups. This increases the mass and volume of the atom by a lot.
As you move to the right the atomic radius decreases.
Reason: There are stronger attractive forces in atom (as you go left to right). Which causes them to group closer together, resulting in shrink of the atom.