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CIE IGCSE Chemistry Your notes

Group Properties & Trends

Contents
Group I Properties
Group VII Properties
Group VII Displacement Reactions
Transition Elements
Noble Gases

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Group I Properties
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Group I properties & trends: basics
The Group 1 metals are also called the alkali metals as they form alkaline solutions with high pH values
when reacted with water
Group 1 metals are lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium and francium
They all contain just one electron in their outer shell
Physical properties of the Group 1 metals
The Group 1 metals:
Are soft and easy to cut, getting even softer and denser as you move down the Group (sodium and
potassium do not follow the trend in density)
Have shiny silvery surfaces when freshly cut
Conduct heat and electricity
They all have low melting points and low densities compared to other metals, and the melting
point decreases as you move down the Group; some would melt on a hot day

The alkali metals lie on the far left-hand side of the Periodic Table
Chemical properties of the Group I metals
They react readily with oxygen and water vapour in air so they are stored under oil to stop them from
reacting
Group 1 metals will react similarly with water, reacting vigorously to produce an alkaline metal
hydroxide solution and hydrogen gas

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The Group 1 metals get more reactive as you look down the group, so only the first three metals are
allowed in schools for demonstrations
Reactions of the Group 1 metals and water Your notes

Element Reaction Observations

lithium + water → lithium hydroxide + hydrogen Relatively slow reaction

Fizzing
Li
2Li (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2LiOH (aq) + H2 (g) Lithium moves on the surface
of the water
sodium + water → sodium hydroxide + hydrogen More vigorous fizzing
Moves rapidly on the surface
Na
2Na (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2NaOH (aq) + H2 (g) of the water
Dissolves quickly
Reacts more vigorously than
potassium + water → potassium hydroxide + sodium
hydrogen Burns with a lilac flame
K
Moves very rapidly on the
2K (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2KOH (aq) + H2 (g)
surface
Dissolves very quickly

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Predicting the Properties of Group I Elements

Knowing the reactions of elements at the top of the group allows you to predict the properties of other Your notes
elements further down Group 1
Properties of other Alkali Metals (Rubidium, Caesium and Francium)
As the reactivity of alkali metals increases down the group, rubidium, caesium and francium will react
more vigorously with air and water than lithium, sodium and potassium
Lithium will be the least reactive metal in the group at the top, and francium will be the most reactive at
the bottom
Francium is rare and radioactive so is difficult to confirm predictions
For example the reactions with water can be predicted:
Predicting the reaction with water

Element Observations

Rb Explodes with sparks

Violent explosion due to rapid production

Cs
of heat and hydrogen

Fr Too reactive to predict

You can also look at other properties such as boiling point, melting point and density of Group 1
elements and use them to predict whether the other properties are likely to be larger or smaller going
down the group

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Group VII Properties

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Group VII properties & trends
These are the Group VII non-metals that are poisonous and include fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine
and astatine
Halogens are diatomic, meaning they form molecules of two atoms
The formulae of the halogens are F2, Cl2, Br2, I2 and At2
All halogens have seven electrons in their outer shell
They form halide ions by gaining one more electron to complete their outer shells
Fluorine is not allowed in schools so observations and experiments tend to only involve chlorine,
bromine and iodine
Properties of the halogens
At room temperature (20 °C), the physical state of the halogens changes as you go down the group
Chlorine is a pale yellow-green gas, bromine is a red-brown liquid and iodine is a grey-black solid
This demonstrates that the density of the halogens increases as you go down the group:

The physical state of the halogens at room temperature

Reactivity of Group 7 non-metals increases as you go up the group (this is the opposite trend to that
of Group I)
Each outer shell contains seven electrons and when the halogen reacts, it will need to gain one outer
electron to get a full outer shell of electrons
As you go up Group 7 , the number of shells of electrons decreases (period number decreases moving
up the Periodic Table)

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This means that the outer electrons are closer to the nucleus so there are stronger electrostatic forces
of attraction, which help to attract the extra electron needed
This allows an electron to be attracted more readily, so the higher up the element is in Group 7 then the Your notes
more reactive it is

Diagram showing the electronic configuration of the first three elements in Group 7

Exam Tip
Solid iodine, iodine in solution and iodine vapour are different colours. Solid iodine is dark grey-black,
iodine vapour is purple and aqueous iodine is brown.

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Predicting group VII properties

You may be given information about some elements and asked to predict the properties of other Your notes
elements in the group
The information you might be given could be in relation to melting/boiling point or physical
state/density so it is useful to know the trends in properties going down the group
Predicting melting and boiling point
The melting and boiling point of the halogens increases as you go down the group
Fluorine is at the top of Group 7 so will have the lowest melting and boiling point
Astatine is at the bottom of Group 7 so will have the highest melting and boiling point
Predicting physical states
The halogens become denser as you go down the group
Fluorine is at the top of Group 7 so will be a gas
Astatine is at the bottom of Group 7 so will be a solid
Predicting colour
The colour of the halogens becomes darker as you go down the group
Fluorine is at the top of Group 7 so the colour will be lighter, so fluorine is yellow
Astatine is at the bottom of Group 7 so the colour will be darker, so astatine is black

Exam Tip
If you are doing the extended course you can be asked to identify trends in chemical or physical
properties of the Group 7 elements, given appropriate data.
Firstly, make sure that you have placed the elements and associated data in either ascending or
descending order according to their position in Group 7. Then look for any general patterns in the data.

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Group VII Displacement Reactions

Your notes
Group VII displacement reactions
A halogen displacement reaction occurs when a more reactive halogen displaces a less reactive
halogen from an aqueous solution of its halide
The reactivity of Group 7 non-metals increases as you move up the group
Out of the three commonly used halogens, chlorine, bromine and iodine, chlorine is the most reactive
and iodine is the least reactive
Colour of halogens in aqueous solutions

Aqueous solution Colour

Very pale green but usually appears colourless as it is

Chlorine
very dilute

Bromine Orange but will turn yellow when diluted

Iodine Brown

Halogen displacement reactions

Chlorine and bromine
If you add chlorine solution to colourless potassium bromide solution, the solution becomes orange as
bromine is formed
Chlorine is above bromine in Group 7 so is more reactive
Chlorine will therefore displace bromine from an aqueous solution of the metal bromide
The least reactive halogen always ends up in the elemental form
potassium bromide + chlorine → potassium chloride + bromine
2KBr (aq) + Cl2 (aq) → 2KCl (aq) + Br2 (aq)
Bromine and iodine
Bromine is above iodine in Group 7 so is more reactive
Bromine will therefore displace iodine from an aqueous solution of metal iodide
The solution will turn brown as iodine is formed
magnesium iodide + bromine → magnesium bromide + iodine

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MgI2 (aq) + Br2 (aq) → MgBr2 (aq) + I2 (aq)

Summary table of displacement reactions Your notes

Chlorine (Cl2) Bromine (Br2) Iodine (I2)

Potassium chloride
x No reaction No reaction
(KCl)

Chlorine displaces the

Potassium bromide bromide ions
x No reaction
(KBr) Yellow-orange colour of
bromine seen

Chlorine displaces the Bromine displaces the

Potassium Iodide iodide ions iodide ions
x
(KI) Brown colour of iodine is Brown colour of iodine is
seen seen

Exam Tip
Iodine solid, solution and vapour are different colours. Solid iodine is dark grey-black, iodine vapour is
purple and aqueous iodine is brown.

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Transition Elements
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Transition elements
Transition elements are found in the centre of the Periodic Table between Group 2 and Group 3
Most metals are transition elements and have properties typical of a metal:
They are lustrous
They are hard and strong
They conduct heat and electricity
They have high melting points
Except mercury: This has a low melting point which is why it is a liquid at room temperature
The transition elements in the Periodic Table

Transition elements are found in the middle of the Periodic Table

There are some properties that are only typical of transition elements :
They form ions with different charges
E.g. Iron forms Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions
They are useful as catalysts
E.g. Iron is used as the catalyst in the Haber process
They form coloured compounds
E.g. Copper forms blue copper sulfate, black copper oxide and green copper carbonate
Coloured compounds formed by transition metal ions

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Your notes

The colours produced by some transition elements ions

Exam Tip
Although scandium and zinc are in the transition element area of the Periodic Table, they are not
considered transition elements as they do not form coloured compounds and have only one oxidation
state.

Transition elements oxidation numbers

Extended tier only
The transition elements have more than one oxidation number, as they can lose a different number of
electrons
For example. iron either:
Lose two electrons to form Fe2+ so has an oxidation number of +2
Loses three electrons to form Fe3+ so has an oxidation number of +3
Compounds containing transition elements in different oxidation states will have different properties
and colours

Exam Tip
Transition elements also referred to as transition metals.

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Noble Gases
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Noble gases properties & electronic configuration
The noble gases are in Group 8 (or Group 0); they are non-metals and have very low melting and
boiling points
They are all monoatomic, colourless gases
The Group 0 elements all have full outer shells
This electronic configuration is extremely stable so these elements are unreactive and are inert
Electronic configurations of the noble gases:
He: 2
Ne: 2,8
Ar: 2,8,8
Kr: 2,8,18,8
Xe: 2,8,18,18,8
The location of the noble gases

Noble gases are inert (unreactive) as they have a full outer shell of electrons so do not easily lose or gain
electrons

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