Main group elements physical 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. 

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. 

W. T. Reichle Preparation, physical properties, and reactions of sigma-bonded organometallic compounds, pp. 653-826 (696). Main Group elements only. 

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). 

Like their atomic and physical properties, the chemical properties of the transition elements are very different from those of the main-group elements. Let s examine the key properties in the Period 4 transition series. 

Metal oxides display a variety of unique physical and chemical properties and are employed in numerous technological applications (Table 7-1). Chemical vapor deposition has been used widely for the preparation of metal oxide thin films [10, 13]. The following section summarizes the preparation of several transition metal and main group element oxides by CVD. 

Section 8.1 broadly discusses properties of the main group elements that inflnence their physical and chemical behavior. 

The transition metals (or T-metals, as we call them) span the area between the alkali and alkaline Earth elements (on the far left), and the main group elements (on the far right). The T-metals are subdivided into three main categories according to the electronic structure, and what effect the change in electronic structure has on the size, chemistry, and physical properties of the T-metals. These elements are called the transition metals because they occupy an interstitial part of the periodic table that transitions from elements with only s-orbitals (alkali and alkaline elements), to those with both s- and p-orbitals (main group elements). If the periodic table was looked upon as a landscape, the area occupied by the transition metals acts as an isthmus between each side. 

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