periodic table of elements name valence electrons

Polonium is the largest of all the chalcogens with 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, and 6 electrons in the shells.It reaches its boiling point around -297.31 degrees F.At room temperature oxygen is in a gaseous state and it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless.Oxygen is the least dense out of all of the chalcogens with a density of 0.00143 g/cm 3.Oxygen works to from rust through oxidation, and is well known to react with other atoms.X (chalcogen) + H 2 (dihydrogen) → H 2X (hydride of the chalcogen) Characteristics of Group 16 Oxygen X denotes any of the chalcogens: oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, or polonium. When the chalcogens react with dihydrogen (H 2), they will usually form hydrides with the formula H 2X. Therefore, oxygen has a higher ionization energy than an element like lithium. It might also be important to note that as we move across a period on the periodic table ionization energy increases. Oxygen is known to have the highest ionization energy among the family. Because of this the ionization energy’s of the chalcogens decrease as we move down in the group. So, elements smaller in size will often have higher ionization energies than elements with larger size. This is because the greater the distance the electrons in the valence shell are from the nucleus the less forces of attraction the nucleus has on these electrons.

When the radius or size of an atom increases, the ionization energy decreases. So, oxygen is known to have the lowest melting and boiling point. This is because as we move down a group the magnitude of van der waals forces also increases. Since there is an increase in atomic size and masses when we move down a group on the periodic table, the melting and boiling points of these elements will have a direct correlation. The chalcogen with the largest atomic and ionic radius is polonium. So, the chalcogen with the smallest atomic radius and ionic radius is oxygen. As expected, based on atomic and ionic radius trends on the periodic table, the radius of the chalcogens increase when we move down a group. This is because of the increased effective nuclear charge, the greater attraction of the electrons to the nucleus of the atom decrease radius size.

Atomic and Ionic Radius of the Group 16 Elementsīoth the atomic and ionic radius of the elements in the chalcogen family are smaller than those of the group preceding them, group 15. *Note that “n” denotes the value of the principal quantum number. The electron configuration for livermorium, which is not displayed in the chart, is 5f 146d 107s 27p. Generally the electron configuration for chalcogens is ns 2np 4. For example sulfur has over 20 allotropes and oxygen is known to have about 9. Most of the chalcogens have more than one allotrope, the existence of a chemical element in two or more forms. These family of elements derived their name from the greek word “chalcos”, which means ore-forming, since each of these elements are found in copper ores and in sulfides and oxides in the Earth’s crust. This is because oxygen’s characteristics differ a bit among the other elements in the family.Įach element in the chalcogen family have 6 electrons in the valence shell. It is sometimes common for oxygen to be excluded from the chalcogen family. Some scientists consider livermorium to be a member of the chalcogens as well. There are five elements that can be classified as chalcogens: oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, and polonium. Topics Covered in Other ArticlesĬhalcogens are elements that belong to group 16 on the periodic table. In this tutorial you will learn about the Chalcogens family on the periodic table, as well as their unique characteristics.

Periodic table of elements name valence electrons