Trends in groups in the

Periodic Table
▪ Atomic and mass numbers increase down the group
▪ Boiling and melting points decrease down the group
▪ Reactivity increases down the group
Gas

Gas

Liquid
 Why do elements react to form compounds?

o Atoms become stable when the

outer shell is full of electrons
o Atoms which do not have a full
outer shell react to fill their outer
shell with electrons
o Group 8 elements have full outer
shells, so they are unreactive

▪ When atoms of elements react together they form compounds

▪ In a compound the atoms are held together by chemical bonds
▪ The chemical bonds are formed when atoms lose or gain
electrons or share electrons
 ❖ When metals and
Losing electrons non-metals react,
the metal atom
loses electrons and
the non-metal
atom gains these
electrons

Na – e- → Na+
❖ When an atom loses electrons it becomes a positive ion
❖ A positive ion has more protons than electrons
Gaining electrons

❖ When an atom gains

electrons it becomes a
negative ion
❖ A negative ion has more
electrons than protons

17
18
➢Positive sodium ion bonds with
negative chloride ion to form
the compound sodium chloride
➢The bond formed between the
two ions is called an ionic bond

sodium

chlorine

Sodium chloride
Comparing reactivity of group 1 and group 7
▪ Group 1 elements lose their valence
electron when they react
▪ Down the group the atomic size is
bigger, so the attraction from the
nucleus to the valence electron is
lesser and it is easier for atoms to lose
the electron
▪ Thus reactivity increases down the
group in group 1

▪ Group 7 elements gain one electron when they react

▪ Down the group the atomic size is bigger, so the
attraction from the nucleus to the valence electron is
lesser and it is more difficult for atoms to gain the
electron
▪ Thus reactivity decreases down the group in group 7
chloride

fluoride ion.
• Magnesium atom has two valence electrons to lose
• Oxygen atom needs two more electrons to get 8 valence electrons
• The two electrons from magnesium move to the outer shell of the oxygen atom
• This forms a magnesium ion and an oxide ion
• They bond to produce the compound magnesium oxide
• Magnesium atom has
two valence electrons to
lose
• Chlorine atom needs one
more electron to get 8
valence electrons
• The two electrons from
magnesium move to the
outer shells of two
separate chlorine atoms
• This forms a magnesium
ion and a chloride ion
• They bond to produce
the compound
magnesium chloride
 Sharing electrons ❖ When non-metals
atoms react, they
share electrons
between their atoms

o Hydrogen and chlorine atoms need one more electron to fill

their outer shells
o These atoms share a pair of electrons to fill their outer shell
o The bond formed is called a covalent bond
o This forms a molecule of hydrogen chloride
❖ Atoms of the same element can bond
together to form a molecule of that element Oxygen molecule, O2