Name: Amanda Date:

Student Exploration: Periodic Trends

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions
and prompts in the orange boxes.

Vocabulary: atomic radius, electron affinity, electron cloud, energy level, group, ion, ionization
energy, metal, nonmetal, nucleus, period, periodic trends, picometer, valence electron

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the

Gizmo.)

1. On the image at right, the two magnets are the same. Which
paper clip would be harder to remove?

2. Which magnet would be most likely to attract additional

paper clips?

3. What is the relationship between the thickness of the book and the ability of the magnet to
hold on to and attract paper clips?

The thicker the book the greater the distance between the magnet and the paper clip
causing the ability for the magnet to attract additional items to decrease.

Gizmo Warm-up
Just as the thickness of a book changes how strongly a magnet attracts a paper
clip, the size of an atom determines how strongly the nucleus attracts electrons.
In the Periodic Trends Gizmo, you will explore this relationship and how it affects
the properties of different elements.

The atomic radius is a measure of the size of the electron cloud, or the region
where electrons can be found. To begin, check that H (hydrogen) is selected in Group 1 on the left.
Turn on Show ruler. To measure the radius, drag one end of the ruler to the proton in the nucleus
and the other end to the electron. Click Save radius to record the value.

1. What is the radius of hydrogen? 53 pm

Notice that the radius is measured in picometers (pm). A picometer is

one trillionth of a meter.

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2. On the right side of the Gizmo, select Li. Connect the right side of the 167 pm
ruler to the outermost electron, or valence electron. What is the
radius of lithium?

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity A:
● Check that Atomic radius is selected from
Atomic radius
the drop-down menu.

Question: What factors affect the radius of an atom?

1. Predict: How do you think the radius of an atom will change as you move down a group
(vertical column) in the periodic table?

I think the radius of an atom would increase as we move down a group.

2. Collect data: Use the ruler to measure the atomic radii of the group 1 elements. As you do so,
count the energy levels (shown as rings of electrons) in each atom. Record in the table.

Element H Li Na K Rb Cs
Number of energy
1 2 3 4 5 6
levels
Atomic radius (pm) 53 167 190 2243 265 298

3. Observe: What happens to the radius as you move down group 1?

The atomic radius increases

4. Explore: Turn off Show ruler. Select Li, and then select Be. Observe the radii of the elements in
group 2. Then look at other groups. What pattern do you see?

I notice that the radii of the elements increase

5. Draw a conclusion: In general, what is the effect of the number of energy levels on the radius of
an atom?

The higher the number of energy levels the higher the radius of an atom

6. Predict: How do you think the radius of an atom will change as you move across a period
(horizontal row) in the periodic table?

I think it will decrease.

7. Collect data: Beginning with Na, record the number of energy levels, number of protons, and
atomic radius for each element in period 3.

Element Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar
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 Number of energy 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
levels
Number of protons 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Atomic radius (pm) 190 145 118 111 98 88 79 71

8. Observe: What happens to the radius as you move across a period?

The radius decreases

9. Explore: Investigate other periods in the periodic table. Does the same trend occur?

Does the same trend occur? yes, it does occur

Hypothesize why this trend I think this trend might occur because the electron
occurs. cloud contains electrons with negative charges and
these electrons are stronger so to be stronger than the
electrons or to level it out the number of protons always
have to increase

10. Analyze: Consider how the number of protons might affect the size of the electron cloud.

A. As you move across a period, are new energy levels the number of new energy
added? levels stays the same

B. What happens to the number of protons in the The number of protons

nucleus as you move from one element to the next increases
across a period?

C. If the proton number increases while the number of an increased attraction for
energy levels remains constant, what happens to the the electrons
attractive force between the nucleus and the
electrons?

D. How does your answer to the previous question The added protons in the
explain the trend in radii across a period? nucleus of the atom will pull
the electron cloud more
tightly and this causes an
increased attraction for the
electrons
meaning you have a smaller
atomic radius.

11. Extend your thinking: The Gizmo enables you to examine ions, or atoms that have gained or
lost electrons. Select Na and turn on Show ion. Compare the radius of the neutral atom to that
of the ion. Repeat with Cl. Then look at other ions. See if you can find a pattern.

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 A. Why do you think the Na+ ion is smaller than a neutral Because it has one less
Na atom? electron than Na, Na+ is
smaller. As a result of the
increased attraction on
existing electrons, Na+ is
smaller in size than Na.

B. Why do you think the Cl- ion is larger than a neutral Cl Because it has one more
atom? electron than Na, Na- is
larger. As a result of the
decreased attraction on
existing electrons, Na+ is
greater in size than Na.

Unlike neutral atoms, ions have a different number of electrons than protons. The electrons are
attracted to the protons and repelled by other electrons. If another electron is added, the
repulsion between electrons increases while the attractive force of the nucleus stays the same.
As a result, the electron cloud expands. If an electron is lost, the cloud is pulled in more tightly.
Electron repulsions decrease while the number of protons remains constant.

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 Activity B:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Removing and
● Choose Ionization energy from the
adding
drop-down menu.
electrons

Question: How does the radius of an atom affect the ability of the protons in the nucleus to
hold on to and attract electrons?

1. Predict: Ionization energy (IE) is the energy required to remove an electron from an atom. As
atomic radius increases, the valence electrons get farther from the nucleus. How do you think
an atom’s size will affect its ability to hold on to its valence electrons? Why?

I think that the bigger the atom’s size the harder its ability to hold on to its valence
electrons i think this because as the atom gets bigger it gets further away from the
nucleus.

2. Investigate: Select H. In the Gizmo, the hydrogen atom is shown next to a positive charge. As
you move the atom to the right, the force of attraction between the positive charge and the
valence electron will increase until the electron is removed.

Slowly drag the atom towards the charge. After the electron is removed, use the ruler to
measure the distance between the original and the final position of the electron. Record the
distance and ionization energy in the table, then repeat for the other group 1 elements.

Element H Li Na K Rb Cs Fr
Distance (no units) 227 397 402 418 422 427 427
Ionization energy
1312 520 496 419 403 376 380
(kJ/mol)

3. Analyze: What trend do you notice?

As the valence electron get farther away from the nucleus the distance
between the original position and current position is less and the ionization
energy is small .

4. Investigate: Gather data for ionization energy across a period. Record in the table below.

Element Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar
Distance (no units) 402 350 384 339 291 294 240 182
Ionization energy
496 738 578 787 1012 1000 1251 1521
(kJ/mol)

5. Analyze: What trend do you notice?

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 The longer the distance the greater the ionization energy is across the table

6. Explore: Examine other groups and periods in the periodic table to see if the same trends exist.
What trends do you see in ionization energy down a group and across a period?

Moving down the table, the shorter the distance, the greater the force; moving
across the table, the greater the ionization energy.

7. Think and discuss: As you move down a group, you will recall that the radius increases. Why do
you think an increase in atomic radius would result in a lower ionization energy?

the distance of the protons/atoms are further apart which will mean less force in
the atoms

8. Think and discuss: As you move across a period, you will recall that the radius decreases. Why
do you think a decrease in atomic radius would result in a greater ionization energy?

the atoms are closer together which would mean greater force within the atom.

9. Predict: Electron affinity (EA) refers to the energy released when an electron is added to an
atom. This release of energy is always expressed as a negative value. The greater the
magnitude of the negative value, the greater the attraction for electrons. (An EA of –100 kJ/mol
would indicate a stronger attraction for electrons than an EA of –50 kJ/mol.)

How do you think the size of an atom will affect its ability to attract additional electrons?

The stronger the force between the atoms, the smaller the atom, while the
opposite occurs when the atoms are far apart.

10. Investigate: Choose Electron affinity and select fluorine (F). In the Gizmo, the fluorine atom is
shown next to an electron. To measure the electron affinity, slowly drag the fluorine atom
toward the electron. When the electron hops over, use the ruler to measure the distance.

What is the ruler 427 units What is the electron -328

distance? affinity?

11. Explore: Find the electron affinity for each of the other Group 17 elements and each of the
other Period 2 elements. Record these below. (Note: If an atom has a positive EA it will have no
attraction for an electron.) All values in the tables below will be in kJ/mol.

F: Cl:-349 Br:-325 I:-295 At:-222 Ts:-166

Grp. 17 EA
-328

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 Be:
electron Ne:
affinity is electron
positive affinity is
no positive
Per. 2 EA Li:-60 B:-27 C:-122 N:-7 O:-141 F:-328 no
electron
transfer electron
occurs transfer
occurs

What is the trend in EA down a decreases down a group

group?

What is the trend in EA across a and increases across a period

period?

12. Think and discuss: What is the relationship between electron affinity and atomic radius? Why
do you think this relationship occurs?

The amount of energy released when an electron is added to a neutral atom or

molecule is known as electron affinity, and the atomic radius is the radius of the
atom farthest away from the neutrons and electrons.

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity C:
● Select the TRENDS tab. Check that Groups
Periodic trends
is selected from the drop-down menu.

Introduction: The periodic table is so named because similar patterns repeat, or appear
periodically, throughout the table. These patterns are referred to as periodic trends.

Question: How do atomic radius, ionization energy, and electron affinity change throughout
the periodic table?

1. Predict: Based on your investigations in activities A and B, predict where in the periodic table
you will typically find the following: Largest atoms, smallest atoms, highest ionization energy,
lowest ionization energy, highest electron affinity, lowest electron affinity.

Upper left region highest electron affinity

lowest electron affinity Upper right region
Far left column smallest atoms
lowest ionization energy Far right column
Lower left region highest ionization energy,
Largest atoms Lower right region

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2. Observe: Choose Atomic radius from the drop-down menu to see the relative sizes of the
elements. In which parts of the table do you find the largest and smallest atoms?

largest=lower left region smallest=far right region

3. Observe: Choose Ionization energy. Ionization energy is shown by color. In which parts of the
table do you find atoms with the highest, and the lowest, ionization energies?

highest=top right region lowest= bottom left region

4. Observe: Choose Electron affinity. Electron affinity is shown by color, with darker blue
corresponding to the highest (most negative) electron affinity. In which parts of the table do
you find the greatest and lowest attraction for electrons?

greatest=middle right region lowest=middle left region

5. Infer: Which group has high ionization energies but very weak electron affinities?

Which group has high ionization Group 18

energies but very weak electron
affinities?

Why do you think this is so? Because noble gases hold electrons more tightly than
metals.

6. Investigate: Select Groups. The periodic table is divided into metals and nonmetals. Metals
are to the left of the metalloids and nonmetals to the right. To the left of the table you will see
a list of group names. Click on each group name to reveal its properties.

A. Metals tend to have low ionization energies. What properties of

elements in the metal groups do you think are the result of this positive ions,
tendency? and good
conductors

B. Except for the noble gases, nonmetals tend to have high electron gaining a
affinities. What properties of nonmetals do you think are the result valence electron
of this tendency?

7. Analyze: The metallic character of an element is determined by how readily it loses electrons.
Elements that lose electrons most easily have the greatest metallic character.

A. Which group has the greatest metallic character? group 1

B. Which group has the lowest metallic character? group 17

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 C. What is the relationship between metallic character Lower the ionisation
and ionization energy? energy more is the
metallic character of the
element.

8. Summarize: ✏️ Hand draw in this space or click here to select EDIT to use the drawing tool.

What conclusion can you draw about the ability of metals to hold on to and attract
electrons, as compared to nonmetals?

Non metals hold electrons the best, way more

than metals

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