Elements And The Periodic Table Nonmetals Inert Gases And: Fill & Download for Free

Fluorine is not only the most reactive of the halogens; it is also the most reactive of all known elements in the periodic table.Fluorine reacts violently with most metals. It also reacts vigorously with all nonmetals except nitrogen, oxygen and the lighter inert gases.

Classification of the ElementsThe next thing in our review is to classify the elements into three groups. These three groups are: metals, nonmetals, and inert gases. Let's look at where these groups are located on the periodic table and correlate them with the ability to lose and gain electrons. Remember, these characterizations are oversimplifications.First, the metals. They are found in the left, center and lower parts of the periodic table (red area). The metals are good at losing electrons, but they are poor at gaining electrons. The net effect is that the metals tend to lose electrons.Second, the nonmetals. They are found on the top and right side of the periodic table (blue area). They include hydrogen. The nonmetals are poor at losing electrons, but they are good at gaining electrons. They gain electrons better than they lose them. So the nonmetals can be characterized by their ability to gain electrons.Ability to Gain and Lose ElectronsGain*****Lose*Third, the inert gases, or the noble gases, as they are sometimes called, are found in the far right column of the periodic table (white area). Sometimes these are included with the nonmetals because they are not metals. However their behavior and properties are different enough from the other nonmetals that we will consider them as a separate classification. They are poor at both losing and gaining electrons. Therefore, for the most part, they neither gain nor lose electrons.We can also consider a fourth classification, the metalloids (marked with *). The transition from metallic properties and behavior to nonmetallic properties and behavior is not a simple matter of stepping over a line that can be drawn on the periodic table. In some ways germanium behaves like a nonmetal, and arsenic has some metallic properties. These elements along the dividing line between metals and nonmetals sometimes are put in their own classification of metalloids. The entire semiconductor industry is based on the awareness of the special properties of these elements. For our purposes it will be simplest to view these elements as marginal metals and nonmetals and realize that the dividing line between metals and nonmetals is not really as simple as we usually make it out to be. The metalloids are so-so at losing electrons and so-so at gaining electrons.

In terms of gaining or losing electrons, the elements of the periodic table are classified into three categories: inert gases, nonmetals and metals. Generally, inert gases do not readily gain nor lose electrons, while nonmetals are more likely to acquire electrons. Metals contain low ionization energies, which refer to the amount of energy required to free or remove an electron. These elements also have low electron affinities, or the attractive forces between an incoming electron and the nucleus of an atom. The lower the ionization energies and electron affinities of an atom are, the greater the tendency to lose electrons.Metals lose electrons to form ions, a process that typically occurs between metals and non-metals. Because metals have a very low electronegativity, they lose electrons easily to high-electronegativity non-metals.Metals generally have very few electrons in their outer electron shell. Because an atom always seeks to balance out the number of electrons in each of its shells, the atoms in metals are eager to lose the lone electron in their outer shell. Whenever two outer shells come into contact, the one that needs an electron to complete its electron set easily takes the lone electron from the other atom