Chemistry 3a Flashcards
In the past, what were the obvious ways to categorise elements?
Physical/chemiscal properties and their relative atomic mass
Why did they categories them this way?
They didn’t know about atomic structure or protons/electrons so they didn’t have atomic numbers
When did they discover these things and arrange the elements in order of atomic numbers?
20th century
What was the first good effort of making a periodic table?
Newlands’ Law of octaves in 1864
What did Newlines discover?
That every eight element had similar properties so he listed the known elements in rows of seven
What was wrong with this organisation?
The pattern broke on third row with transition metals because he left no gaps
Why was his work criticised?
His groups contained elements that didn’t have similar properties (carbon and titanium), He mixed up metals and non-metals (oxygen and iron) and he didn’t leave any gaps for elements that hadn’t been discovered yet
What was the other person to try and make te periodic table?
Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869
What did Mendeleev do?
He put the elements in order of atomic mass like Newlines, but he also left gaps to keep similar propertied elements in the same vertical columns (groups)
Why were the gaps that he left very useful?
They predicted the properties of undiscovered elements, which then fit the pattern (convincing evidence for other scientists)
Why did he have to leave big gaps in the first two rows?
The transition metals
When were protons, neutrons and electrons discovered?
Late 19th century and the periodic table, matched what they discovered so scientists then accepted it as a very important and useful summary of the structure of an atom
What is the modern periodic table based on?
Electronic structure
How can you predict an elements chemical properties?
Using the electron arrangement
What do the shells in an atom correspond to?
To an energy level
Apart from the transition metals, what are similarities between elements in the same group?
They have the same number of electrons in their highest occupied energy level (outer shell)
What is an example of this?
Group 6 all have 6 electrons in their outer shell
What does the positive charge of the nucleus do?
Attracts electrons and holds them in place, the further from the nucleus the electron is, the less the attraction
What also makes attraction of the nucleus less?
When there are a lot of inner electrons as they get in away of the nucleus charge, reducing the attraction
What is this effect known as?
Shielding
What does the combination of increased distance and increased shielding mean?
That an electron in a higher energy level is more easily lost because theres less attraction from the nucleus holding it in place. Thats why group 1 metals get more reactive as you down the group
What does increased distance shielding also mean?
That a higher energy level is less likely to gain an electron as theres less attraction from the nucleus pulling electrons into the atom. Thats why group 7 elements get less reactive going down the group
What elements are group 1?
The alkali metals
What happens as you go down group 1?
The alkali metals become more reactive because the outer electron is more easily lost, because its further from the nucleus, and also the metals as you go down have lower melting and boiling points