Main group elements chemical properties

Elements that appear in the s block and the p block are called either the main group elements or the representative elements. Chemists give them these names because, collectively, these elements are representative of a wide range of physical and chemical properties. Among the main group elements, for example, you will find metals, non-metals, metalloids. 

The aim of this article is to summarize the preparations and chemical properties of the presently known oxide fluorides of the main-group elements. We have not included physical properties except to mention those which are novel or of special interest, particularly structural properties. 

Elucidation of the intrinsic properties of unprecedented chemical bondings of heavier group 14 elements and their systematic comparison will be of great importance in efforts to extend the conventional organic chemistry to that of the whole main group elements. 

The crystal structures adopted by the binary carbides and nitrides are similar to those found in noble metals. The resemblance is not coincidental, and has been explained using Engel-Brewer valence bond theory [5]. Briefly, the main group elements C and N increase the metal s effective s-p electron count, so that structures and chemical properties of the early transition metals resemble those of the Group 8 metals. This idea was first introduced by Levy and Boudart [6] who noted that tungsten carbide had platinum-like properties. 

In Chapter 3, we learned that atoms owe their characteristics to their subatomic particles— protons, neutrons, and electrons. Electrons occur in regions of space outside the nucleus, and the electronic structure is responsible for all of the atom s chemical properties and many of its physical properties. The number of electrons in a neutral atom is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus. That simple description enables us to deduce much about atoms, especially concerning their interactions with one another (Chapter 5). However, a more detailed model of the atom enables even fuller explanations, including the reason for the differences between main group elements and elements of the ttansition and inner transition series. 

Patterns in chemical reactivity of the elements correlate with patterns in the physical structure of the atom they are both periodic functions of Z. Reading across the periodic table (horizontally) shows that each main-group element (Groups I-VIII) in Period 3 has exactly 8 more electrons than the element immediately above it in Period 2. Similarly, each main-group element in Periods 4 and 5 has exactly 18 more electrons than the corresponding element in the period above. The sequence of numbers, 8, 8, 18, 18, and so forth, that organize the periodic table into groups (columns), whose elements have similar physical and chemical properties, arises from the quantum theory of atomic structure (see discussion in Chapter 5). 

Answer Na and Rb are both in group IA Cl and I are in Group VIIA Mg and Sr are in group IIA N and P are in group VA. Main-group elements in the same group share many of the same chemical properties. 

There are six ground state electronic configurations for main-group elements given below. Identify the valence electrons in each and then group them in pairs that would be expected to have similar chemical properties. Hint Rewrite each as a condensed electronic configuration. 

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