The Graph you see above is a scatter plot of atomic radii over atomic number.
The atomic radius
of an atom is defined as half the distance between atomic nuclei when two atoms of that same element are in a bonded state. The atomic number is the amount of protons in the nucleus of the atom. This graph shows the relationship between the overall size of the atom and its number of protons and electrons. According to periodic law the atomic radii increase in size as you go down the groups, like group one in the periodic table and decrease as you go across the periods in the periodic table. In the graph the group trend can be seen in group 1A as it moves across and steadily increases in size. The periodic trend can be most clearly seen across periods two and three as they progress downwards as they go along. You can see the repeating pattern as the graph reaches each new period. There are, naturally, a few exceptions to the basic rule, such as Aluminum (element thirteen), but on the whole what you can see here of the first three periods and part of the forth will repeat and remain the same across the whole of the periodic table. 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0 5 10 15 20 25 A t o m i c
R a d i i ( N a n o m e t e r s ) Atomic Number Trends in Atomic Radii Group 1A Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4