Month: September 2013
Transition Metals
Transition Metals
Atomic Radius:
The atomic radius of Transition Metals increases by 1 shell as you go down the list. The number of electrons on the outermost shell never change. There are always the same number of electrons on the outermost shell of the atom.
Abundance on Earth:
Some of the Transition Metals like Technitium (Tc) are manmade. The most abundant elements on the Earth are Iron, Copper, and Silver. They are easily found in nature, but the rare Transition Metals are not found as easily.
Uses:
Transtition Metals are used for building materials, tools, vehicles, fighter aircraft, artificial hip joints, pipes in nuclear power stations and metal objects.
Reactivity:
Transition Metals don’t react as bad as Alkali Metals, because they have a protective oxide layer which requires them to remove at least 2 or 3 electrons, whereas Alkali Metals only need to remove 1.
Other information:
Transition Metals are both ductile and malleable. They are also conductors of electricity and heat. The three noteworthy elements are iron, cobalt, and nickel, because they are the only elements that are known to produce a magnetic field.
Melting and Boiling points:
The melting and boiling points increase as you go down the list for the first 8 groups. On the last 2 groups, the melting and boiling points go down as you go down the list, but at the end they start going up again.
Noble Gases
Noble Gases
Atomic Radius:
The atomic radius of noble gases increases at a constant rate. The number of outer shells increases by 1 as you go down the list. Here is a picture showing you the atom structure and a table showing you the number of shells the atom has:
Location on the periodic Table:
Noble gases are the last group on the periodic table because the outermost shell of all the gases are always full. Which means they all have 8 electrons in the outermost shell, putting them in group 8A also known as the 18th group on the periodic table.
Reactivity:
Noble gases are generally not reactive because their outer shells are “closed” meaning that if they wanted to use ionic bonding to remove their electrons it would would take a while since there are always 8 on the outer shell. Because the outer shell of noble gases if always full, they are extremely stable, causing them to not have to form chemical bonds or gain or lose electrons.
Melting and Boiling Points:
The melting and boiling points of very low compared to the other elements on the periodic table. Even though they are quite low, the melting and boiling points increase as you go down the list. Noble gases have very low densities, the gases melt and boil extremely fast because of their element’s physical
Uses:
Noble gases have some important industrial functions. For example, Helium is used by diver to dilute the oxygen they breathe while they’re under water, Argon is used to provide an inert atmosphere for high-temperature metallurgical processes, and Neon and Argon are used for filling discharge tubes. Noble gases are not found easily. There are small quantities of Noble Gases in the atmosphere.
Alkali Metals
Alkali Metals:
Atomic Radius:
The atomic radius of Alkali Metals increase as you go through the list. The Alkali Metals are in the 1st group on the Periodic Table because they all have 1 electron on the outermost shell.
Reactivity:
Alkali Metals are very reactive metals and they are not found freely in nature. Which is why they are ready to lost that one electron in Ionic Bonding with other elements. They can explode if they are put in water. The metals get more reactive as you go through the list, which is why the most reactive Alkali Metals are Cesium and Francium.
Abundance on earth:
Alkali Metals are found on the earth, and they are not manmade. The 7th metal in the first group, Francium, is a radioactive metal. It is so rare that only 20 atoms can exist on the Earth at one time. They are very flexible and are great conductors of heat and electricity.
Uses:
Alkali Metals are used for different things. For example, Lithium is used for batteries, glass industries, in alloys of lead, aluminium, and magnesium to make them less dense and also to make them stronger. Sodium on the other hand is used in glass and detergent industries, sodium chloride is used in foods, and its used to soften the water. Potassium is used for making fertiliser, detergent, and potassium bromide is used in the photography industries.
Melting points of the Alkali Metals:
The melting and boiling points of these metals show the same pattern. All of the Alkali Metals have very low melting and boiling points compared to most of the other metals. The only other metals that have lower melting points than Lithium are Indium, Gallium and Mercury. In the graph, you can see that Lithium has the highest melting point in the group, and then as you go down the list, the melting points decrease. The Alkali Metals are very soft metals, the hardest metal in the group is Lithium, and they become softer as you go down.
Periodic Table of Elements 