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The Periodic Table
Chemistry
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Group | A vertical column on the periodic table. Elements in the same group often share similar chemical properties because they have the same number of valence electrons. |
Period | (Chemistry) A horizontal row on the periodic table. |
Family | (Chemistry) A section of the Periodic Table. There are three major families - the metals, nonmetals, and metalloids. |
Valence Electron | An electron in an atom's outermost energy shell / orbital. These are the electrons that are involved in bonding. |
Octet Rule | An atom is stable when its valence electron shell is full, which is when it contains 8 electrons. The only exception to the octet rule is the first electron shell (H and He), which is complete with just 2 electrons. |
Metal | A family on the periodic table. Located on the left-hand side. Metals are silver, have luster, are good conductors, and are malleable. |
Nonmetal | No conductivity, no luster, brittle |
Metalliod | The semimetals located along the stair step on the periodic table. Metalloids have some characteristics of metals (shiny), but also nonmetals (brittle). They have lower conductivity than most metals. |