Name: ______Date: ______

Making Sense of the Periodic Table

Directions: Believe it or not, the periodic table is an amazing tool for chemistry. It is arranged is a very helpful way. This packet is designed to help you understand how to use the periodic table. THERE IS A PERIODIC TABLE PRINTOUT ON THE LAST PAGE OF THIS PACKET.

  1. First, let’s talk about the difference between a row, and a column.The rows are aligned horizontally, and the columns are aligned vertically. Columns are also called groups.
  1. Name one element found in Row 4 ______
  2. Name one element found in Column 6A ______
  3. Name the element that is found row 2, column 5A ______

On the last page of this packet is a full-page printout of the periodic table. Use it to answer the questions in this packet. Here are some terms you will need to complete the packet.

Valence electron: the electrons found on the outermost shell of the atom (farthest away from the nucleus.

Atomic number: Shows the number of protons, or electrons for that element.

Atomic Mass: Shows the number of protons and neutrons combined for that element.

Now it is time to draw atoms. For each of the following, write the atomic number, atomic mass, number of protons, electrons, neutrons and valence electrons, and the column that the element is located in. Then draw the atom in the box provided. The circle in each box represents the nucleus. It contains protons and neutrons. The periodic table gives you all the info you need to draw the atom. The atomic numbergives you the number of protons, and the number of electrons. Electrons circle around the nucleus in spaces called orbitals. The atomic mass (rounded to nearest whole number) minus the atomic number = number of neutrons. There are two basic rules to drawing atoms:

1. The first orbital, closest to the nucleus, can hold 2 electrons, and all other orbitals can hold up to 8 electrons.

2. An atom fills the orbitals from the closest to the nucleus first.

3. I have done the first two examples for you.




  1. Is there a relationship between the column number that the element is placed in, and the number of valence electrons the element has (refer to drawings above)? ______
  2. Based on your answer to the previous question, explain how the columns were arranged in the periodic table.

Part 2: Bonding……James Bonding

  1. Atoms bond with one another to become more stable. For example, sodium is explosive in water, and chlorine is a poisonous gas. But, when the two elements come together, they become salt, a white rock that is not explosive or poisonous.
  2. The only thing that makes atoms happy is when their valence shell, or outermost shell, is full of electrons.
  3. Based on your drawing above, hydrogen has 1 electron. How many electrons can it hold in its shell? ______
  4. Based on your drawing above, oxygen has six valence electrons. How many electrons can oxygen hold in its outermost (valence) shell? ______
  5. Hydrogen is “happy”, and stable, when it has 2 electrons. It will react whenever it doesn’t have 2 electrons.
  6. Oxygen is happy whenever it has eight electrons in its outermost shell. It will react whenever it doesn’t have 8 electrons in its valence shell.
  7. To summarize, explain why atoms react with one another. ______

______

______

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  1. Match the following terms to their definitions:

Covalent bond ______A. bond in which electrons are lost by one atom,

and gained by another

Ionic bond ______B. bond in which electrons are shared by both atoms

  1. The compound sodium chloride, NaCl (salt), contains ionic bonds. So does CaO, LiF, and MgBr2, and many others. Based on this information, ionic bonds are formed between a ______and a ______.
  2. The molecule Carbon dioxide, CO2, hydro-fluoric acid HF, HCl, O2, and NO2, and many others contain covalent bonds. Based on this information, covalent bonds are formed between a ______and a ______.
  3. Next to the following substances, write “ionic”, or “covalent” depending on what type of bond is found in them.
  1. H2O ______
  2. H2SO4 ______
  3. NaBr ______
  4. Li2O ______
  5. N2 ______
  6. CaS ______
  7. KI ______