ELEMENT FAMILIES

HydrogenThe hydrogen square sits atop Family

I, but it is not a member of that family.

Hydrogen is in a class of its own.

It’s a gas at room temperature.

HydrogenHydrogen was

involved in the explosion of the Hindenburg.

Hydrogen is promising as an alternative fuel source for automobiles

Alkali MetalsThe alkali family is found

in the first column of the periodic table.

Atoms of the alkali metals have a single electron in their outermost level.

They are shiny, have the consistency of clay, and are easily cut with a knife.

Alkali MetalsThey are the most

reactive metals.They react

violently with water.

Alkali metals are never found as free elements in nature. They are always bonded with another element.

Alkaline Earth MetalsSecond column on the

periodic table. (Group 2)

Reactive metals that are always combined with nonmetals in nature.

Several of these elements are important mineral nutrients (such as Mg and Ca

Transition MetalsElements in groups

3-12Less reactive

harder metalsIncludes metals

used in jewelry and construction.

Metals used “as metal.”

Transition MetalsThese are the metals you are probably most familiar with: copper, tin, zinc, iron, nickel, gold, and silver.They are good

conductors of heat and electricity.

Transition elements have properties similar to one another and to other metals, but their properties do not fit in with those of any other family.

Transition Metals

The compounds of transition metals are usually brightly colored and are often used to color paints.

Boron Family

Elements in group 13

The Boron Family is named after the first element in the family.

This family includes a metalloid (boron), and the rest are metals.

Boron FamilyAluminum metal

was once rare and expensive, not a “disposable metal.”

This family includes the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust (aluminum).

Carbon FamilyElements in group

14Contains elements

important to life and computers.

Silicon and Germanium are important semiconductors.

Carbon FamilyCarbon is the basis for

an entire branch of chemistry.

Organic chemistry

Carbon-14 Used in Radioactive Dating

Nitrogen FamilyElements in

group 15

Nitrogen makes up over ¾ of the atmosphere.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are both important in living things.

Nitrogen FamilyThis family includes non-

metals, metalloids, and metals.

Other elements in this family are phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth.

The red stuff on the tip of matches is phosphorus.

Oxygen Family or ChalcogensElements in group

16Oxygen, Sulfur,

Selenium, Tellurium, Polonium

Many things that stink, contain sulfur (rotten eggs, garlic, skunks,etc.)

Oxygen Family

Oxygen is necessary for respiration.

Oxygen is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust.

It is extremely active and combines with almost all elements.

The most abundant element in the earth’s crust is oxygen.

Halogen Family

The elements in this family are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine.

Halogens are the most active non-metals.

They are never found free in nature.

Uses include halogen lamps and used as disinfectants.

They react with alkali metals to form salts.

Noble Gases

Noble Gases are colorless gases that are extremely un-reactive.

One important property of the noble gases is their inactivity. They are inactive because their outermost energy level is full.

Because they do not readily combine with other elements to form compounds, the noble gases are called inert.

All the noble gases are found in small amounts in the earth's atmosphere.

Noble GasesThe family of

noble gases includes helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon.

Rare Earth ElementsThe thirty rare earth

elements are composed of the lanthanide and actinide series.

One element of the lanthanide series and most of the elements in the actinide series are called trans-uranium, which means synthetic or man-made.

Uranium a Rare Earth ElementFound in mineral Pitchblende

Geiger Counter Used to detect radiation

The End