Periodic Table, Bonding & Reactions

What causes patterns in the periodic table?

Electrical attraction and repulsion between protons and electrons.

What is atomic reactivity?

How likely an element is to react with other elements.

What do periodic table patterns help predict?

Bond types, ion charges, reactivity, electronegativity, and atomic size.

What are valence electrons?

The outermost electrons of an atom.

Why are valence electrons important?

They determine how many bonds an atom can form and how it reacts.

What is electronegativity?

An atom’s ability to attract electrons in a bond.

How does atomic size change on the periodic table?

Increases down a group, decreases across a period.

How does electronegativity change on the periodic table?

Increases across a period, decreases down a group.

How does reactivity change for metals?

Increases down a group.

How does reactivity change for nonmetals?

Increases up a group.

What are reactants?

The starting substances in a chemical reaction.

What are products?

The substances formed in a chemical reaction.

What does conservation of matter mean?

Atoms are not created or destroyed in a reaction.

What happens to the number of atoms in a reaction?

It stays the same before and after the reaction.

What is an ionic bond?

A bond formed by the transfer of electrons (metal + nonmetal).

What is a covalent bond?

A bond formed by sharing electrons between nonmetals.

What is a polar covalent bond?

Unequal sharing of electrons.

What is a nonpolar covalent bond?

Equal sharing of electrons.

What is a metallic bond?

Shared electrons among metal atoms.

How can periodic table patterns explain reactions?

They show why certain elements are more reactive than others.

What should you do if new evidence is given?

Revise or improve your explanation.