CHAPTER 3: PERIODIC TABLE

SUBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
Q1
A
Periodicity of elements refers to the chemical properties of the elements that recur periodically
when these elements are arranged in increasing order of their proton numbers (atomic numbers).

Q2
A
Elements are arranged horizontally in numerical sequence of their proton numbers (atomic
numbers). Each row starts with an alkali metal and ends with a noble gas, which is called period.
The vertical columns consist of elements that have identical or similar outer shell electronic
configuration and are arranged in the order of increasing principal quantum numbers. These
columns are known as groups.

Q3
A
The elements of s-block have similar outer-shell electronic configurations, which is ns1 or ns2.
They are metals and are known as the alkali metals (Group 1) and alkaline earth metals (Group
2).

Q4
A
A: Period 2, block p, Group 15
B: Period 3, block p, Group 18
C: Period 3, block s, Group 2
D: Period 4, block d, Group 5

Q5
A
They have the same outer-shell electronic configuration and the same number of valence
electrons. These are the electrons that take part in chemical reactions. Thus, the elements
undergo similar reactions.

Q6
A
Q: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p5
Z: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p1
Oxidation number:
Q = 1 (Q accepts 1 electron to achieve octet configuration)
Z = +3 (Z releases 3 electrons to gain octet configuration)
Q forms acidic oxide while Z forms amphoteric oxide.
They have these oxidation numbers in order to obtain stability.

Q7
A
(a) Effective nuclear charge
(nuclear charge + screening effect)
(b) Principal quantum number, n

Q8
A
(a)
The atomic radius decreases across a period. This is due to the increase of effective nuclear
charge as the proton number increases in each element across period. Even though the number of
electrons increases, the additional electrons go into the same principal quantum number. Thus,
effective nuclear charge is the main factor that pulls the electron(s) in the outermost shell closer
to the nucleus.
(b)
The size of atoms increases when descending a group due to the increase of the principal
quantum number, n. The radius of an atom becomes larger as electrons are added to successive
principal quantum numbers and thus, the screening effect increases. The electrons at the
outermost shell of the atom experience less attraction towards the nucleus as they are screened
by the inner electrons.

Q9
A
Electronegativity is the ability of an atom/element to attract electrons toward itself in a covalent
bonding.

Q10

A
Atoms with higher electronegativity releases a higher amount of electron affinity.

Q11
A
The size of atoms decreases across a period. This is due to the increase of effective nuclear
charge. When the effective nuclear charge increases, the ability to attract electrons also increases.

Q12
A
They form covalent bonds. Since the electronegativities are similar, there is no tendency for
elements to accept or release electrons in order to achieve the octet configuration. Elements with
similar electronegativities tend to share electrons to form covalent bonds.

Q13
A
(a)
A cation is formed by removing one or more electrons. The removal of electrons reduce electronelectron repulsion but the number of protons remains the same. This leads to an increase in the
effective nuclear charge in the positive ion compared to the neutral atom. Thus, the electron
cloud experience stronger attraction towards the nucleus and the size of the cation becomes
smaller.
(b)
An anion is formed when an atom accepts one or more electrons. When electrons are added to an
atom, the electron-electron repulsion increases. Since the number of protons remains the same,
these electrons experience less attraction towards the nucleus. The electron cloud expands. Thus,
the size of anion is always larger than the neutral atom.

Q14

A
(a) Effective nuclear charge
(b) The principal quantum number occupied by electrons

Q15
A
(a)
Al3 < Mg2+ < Na+
They are isoelectronic ions (having the same electronic configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6). The proton
numbers, however, increase from sodium to aluminium. Since the number of electrons in the ions
remains constant, the radius of the ion decreases with increasing nuclear charge, as electrons are
more strongly attracted to the nucleus.
(b)
Mg2+ < Cl < S2
Mg2+ : 1s2 2s2 2p6
S2 and Cl are isoelectronic ions (1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6).
S2 is larger than Mg2+ because it has an additional shell of electrons in the successive principal
quantum number. Cl is smaller than S2 due to a higher nuclear charge in Cl.

Q16

A
First ionization energy is the minimum energy required to remove 1 mol of electrons from 1 mol
of neutral atoms at its gaseous state.
Na(g) Na+(g) + e

H = (+)ve (1st ionization energy)

The factors that influence the ionization energy are

(a) size of atoms/ions and
(b) effective nuclear charge

Q17
A
Across a period
Generally, the value of the first ionization energy of elements increases. The size of atoms
decreases across a period and at the same time, the effective nuclear charge increase. Thus, the
outermost electrons are more strongly held to the nucleus (across a period), so more energy is
required to remove the first electron.
Down a group
The size of atoms increase, thus, the effective nuclear charge decreases. The outermost electrons
experience less attraction towards the nucleus, therefore less energy is required to remove them.
The first ionization energy of the elements decreases as we move down the group.

Q18
A
The successive ionization energies increase in magnitude because for each successive removal of
the electron, the electrons remaining are being held more strongly by an increasingly more
positive ion. Hence, more energy is required to remove subsequent electrons.

Q19

A
O: 1s2 2s2 2p4
N: 1s2 2s2 2p3
Nitrogen has a higher first ionization energy compared to oxygen. This is due to the stability of
half-filled 2p orbitals. This arrangement, whereby all p-orbitals are singly filled contributes to
the stability of the atom. Thus, more energy is required to remove the first electron.

Q20
A
M belongs to Group 13.
Reason: The fourth electron comes from an inner shell which has an octet configuration.
Thus, M has the outermost configuration of ns2np1 and belongs to Group 13.

Q21
A
The melting point increases from sodium to aluminium. Sodium, magnesium and aluminium are
metals. Therefore, they have metallic bonds in their giant metallic structures. The strength of the
bonds depends on the size of the positive ions and the number of valence electrons. Since Al is
the smallest in size and has the highest number of valence electrons, it has the strongest metallic
bond. Thus, Al has the highest melting point.

Q22
A
The high melting point of silicon is due to its giant covalent structure, whereby each silicon atom
is bonded covalently to one another. Thus, large amounts of energy is required to break the
infinite covalent bonds in the structure.
Sulphur, on the other hand forms a simple covalent structure. S8: each molecule contains eight
sulphur atoms. In the solid state, these molecules of S8 are held by the van der Waals forces. Less
energy is required to melt sulphur as van der Waals forces are weak forces.

Q23
A
Y<X<N<M

CHALLENGE QUESTIONS
Structured Questions
1.
(a)
(i)
Q<P<S<R
Reason: P and Q are the elements of Period 2. Moving across a period, the atomic size decreases
due to the increasing effective nuclear charge. S and R are elements of Period 3 and since they
have additional electrons in the higher principal quantum number (n = 3), they are larger in size
compared to Q and P.
(ii)
R<S<P<Q
Reason: Ionisation energy is affected by the atomic size and effective nuclear charge. R is the
largest atom, thus it has the weakest attraction between the nucleus and the outermost electrons
compared to S, while P and Q are elements of Period 2, smaller in size and with higher effective
nuclear charge, and thus they have higher magnitudes of ionization energies. Element Q has the
largest ionization energy due to its size and also its octet configuration.

(b)
Element P

Reason: Element P is very electronegative and will easily accept electrons in order to achieve the
octet configuration. Thus, it will release the highest amount of energy.
(c)
Element Q. Reason: It has the electronic configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6 which is the octet
arrangement. Q will not accept or lose electrons and thus is unreactive.

2.
(a)
Na+, Mg2+, Al3+ and Si4+ (1s2 2s2 2p6)
P3, S2 and Cl (1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6)
(b)
(i) the ionic radius decreases from Na+ to Si4+. Na+, Mg2+, Al3+ and Si4+ are isoelectronic ions, thus
they have the same number of electrons. In this case, the only factor that affects the size is the
effective nuclear charge. Moving from Na+ to Si4+, the proton numbers increases and this leads to
the increased attraction between the outermost electrons and the nucleus of the ions.
(ii) Based on the graph, a drastic increase in the ionic size is observed when moving from Si4+ to
P3. This can be explained by referring to their electronic configurations.
Si4+: 1s2 2s2 2p6
P3: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6
P3 has an additional eight electrons in the higher principal quantum number, n.

(c)
(i) Si4+, P3, S2, Cl form acidic oxides.
(ii) Na+, Mg2+ form basic oxides.

3.
(a)

(i) X and Z
(ii) Y
(iii) X
(iv) X
(v) W, X, Z and Q

(b) Y < Z < W < X

(c)
(i) YW
(ii) YZ2

4.
(a) M belongs to Group 14
(b) The first four successive ionization energies show a gradual increase but a very drastic
increase is observed at the 5th ionization energy. This indicates that the 5th electron requires an
extremely high amount of ionization energy as it is situated in the inner shell, which has the octet
arrangement and is highly stable. Thus, element M has 4 valence electrons. By arranging the
electrons in the form of ns2np2 as the outermost electron arrangement, it can be conclude that M
is a member of Group 14.
(c) 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p2
(d) Silicon, Si

Essay Questions
1.
(a) The 1st ionization energy decreases when descending a group. Ionization energy depends on
the size and the effective nuclear charge of an atom. When descending the group, the size of
atoms increases, thus the attraction between the nucleus and the outermost electron becomes

weaker. This explains why it is easier to remove an electron from the atom when descending the
group.
(b) Group 1 elements are metals. They are held in the lattice by an infinite number of metallic
bonds. The strength of metallic bonds depends on the size of the positive ions and the number of
valence electron(s). The Group 1 members have the same number of valence electron but their
sizes increase down the group. Since the size increases, the nuclear attraction becomes weaker
down the group, and so does the strength of the metallic bond. Thus, the melting point decreases.
(c) Li < Na < K < Rb < Cs.

2.
(a) Metals: Na, Mg and Al
Metalloid: Si
Non-metals: P,S, Cl and Ar
(b) The melting point increases from Na to Al. They are metals and possess giant metallic
structures. The strength of the metallic bond in the solid depends on the size of the positive ions
and the number of valence electrons. As we move from Na to Al, the atomic size decreases and at
the same time the number of valence electrons increases. Hence, Al has the strongest metallic
bond and thus melt at the highest temperature compared to the other metals in the same period.
(c) Si has a gigantic structure with the Si atoms strongly bonded with infinite covalent bonds that
form the giant network. In order to melt, a high amount of energy is required to break the infinite
covalent bonds.
(d) S, P, Cl and Ar are elements that exist as simple molecular structures. S, P, and Cl exist as S8,
P4 and Cl2 respectively, while Ar is a noble gas. These simple molecules have weak van der
Waals forces acting between them. This explains why the simple molecules have lower boiling
points compared to the metals and Si. The strength of the van der Waals forces depends on the
size of the molecules. S8 is the largest molecule, thus it has the highest melting point among
them. This is followed by P4, the second largest molecule and finally Cl2 and Ar.