Basic Information from the Periodic Table of Elements
IF YOU ARE PRINTING THIS DOCUMENT ON A BLACK AND WHITE PRINTER,
PLEASE COLOR CODE THE FOLLOWIING PERIODIC TABLE.
Periods: go across from left to right
• Signify the highest energy level occupied by the electrons of a particular element
• Named Period 1 to Period 7
• Example: Elements on Period 3 are Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar.
Groups: go up and down vertically
• The elements in the same group have similar properties
• Named Group 1 to Group 18 (or Group IA to VIIIA and Group IB to VIIIB)
• Example: Elements in GroupIB or 11 are Cu, Ag, Au.
Representative Elements: All elements in Groups IA to VIIIA
Transition Elements:
All elements in Groups IB to VIIIB
Metals vs. Nonmetals vs. Metalloids/Semimetals
(Refer to the periodic table above)
Metals are located left of the red zigzag line except for H (blue elements)
Nonmetals are located right of the red zigzag line and H (yellow elements)
Basic Info from the Periodic Table
page 1
Metalloids/Semimetals are on the red zigzag line except for Al and Po (purple elements)
Common Names and Oxidation Numbers(Charges)
Group IA
Group IIA
Group IIIA
Group IVA
Group VA
Group VIA
Group VIIA
Group VIIIA
Common Names
Oxidation Numbers(Charges)
Alkali metals
+1
Alkaline earth metals
+2
Boron Group
+3
Carbon Group
+4 for metals/-4 for nonmetals
Nitrogen Group
-3
Oxygen Group
-2
Halogens
-1
Noble Gases
0
Group B metals
Transition Metals
Last 2 rows at the bottom
Inner Transition Metals
First Row: Lanthanides
Second Row: Actinides
varies
varies
Fixed Charges vs. Variable Charges
Ions with fixed charges came from the following elements
• Representative Elements (Groups IA to VIIIA as explained above)
• Ag(silver) which has a charge of +1
• Zn(zinc) which has a charge of +2
Ions with variable charges came from the following elements
• Transition Elements (Groups IB to VIIIB)
• Sn(tin) which can have possible charge of +2 and +4
• Pb(lead) which can have possible charge of +2 and +4
• Special case for mercury: Mercury(I) ion is Hg22+ and Mercury(II) ion is Hg2+
Basic Info from the Periodic Table
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Polyatomic Ions to Memorize
Things to pay attention while memorizing these polyatomic ions:
• Charges always stay at the top right
• Subscripts always stay at the bottom
• Pay attention to the spellings of the ions. Change of a letter can totally change the
type of ion (example: sulfate vs. sulfite vs. sulfide)
PO33-
Basic Info from the Periodic Table
phosphite
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