Periodic Table
Reed Christensen
Alkali Metals
Alkali Metals are very reactive metals.
Alkaline Earth Metals
- High boiling points.
- High melting points.
- Low density.
Halogens
A unique characteristic of halogens is that they are the only element group that includes elements that belong to all three classical states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas at room temperature.
Noble Gases
Some characteristics of the noble gases are that they all conduct electricity, fluoresce, are odorless and colorless.
Metals
Metals are generally shiny, malleable, and hard. Metals are also good conductors of electricity.
Metalloids
Metalloids are typically semi-conductors, which means that they both insulate and conduct electricity.
Nonmetals
Non-metals do not conduct heat or electricity very well.
Transition Metals
The transition metals have the following properties in common:
- they form colored compounds.
- they are good conductors of heat and electricity.
- they can be hammered or bent into shape easily.
- they are less reactive than alkali metals such as sodium.
- they have high melting points - but mercury is a liquid at room temperature.
Lanthanides
Bright and silvery in appearance, many of the lanthanides—though they are metals—are so soft they can be cut with a knife.
Actinides
Because of their radioactive and heavy metal characteristics, they are considered toxic elements.
Ionization Energy
The ionization energy (IE) of an atom or Molecules describes the minimum amount of energy required to remove an electron from the atom or molecule in the gaseous state. It has a increasing energy as it goes to the right on the table.
Atomic Radius
The atomic radius of a chemical element is a measure of the size of its atoms, usually the mean or typical distance from the center of the nucleus to the boundary of the surrounding cloud of electrons. The atomic radius increases as you move left and down.
Electronegativity
Electronegativity is a chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom or a functional group to attract electrons (or electron density) towards itself. It increases like Ionization energy.