The Periodic Table
Introduction
How many elements are there? How do chemists organize their knowledge of these elements? What can the periodic table tell us about an element and its properties? What property of an element (atom) is responsible for its location on the periodic table? Who is responsible for the modern periodic table and why did it become so widely accepted? This WebQuest will answer some of these questions.
The Task
You will use the internet and other resources to research some information about the periodic table and what it can tell us about the elements. You will:
· find some information about the periodic table;
· write the information in a MS Word Document;
The Process
To accomplish your task, you should follow several steps:
o Investigate all of the topics and items listed below. You are responsible for organizing and referencing all the material which you discover
Use the web sites below to find the following information:
o Elements
§ Determine how many elements are currently known (109).
§ Determine how many of those elements occur naturally and how many are man-made.
§ Identify those elements which are metals, non-metals and metalloids.
§ Identify those elements which are solids, liquids and gases under standard conditions.
o Families and Groups
§ Identify the location of the following groups or families
§ Alkali Metals
§ Alkaline Earth Metals
§ Halogens
§ Noble gases
§ Transition metals
§ Inner transition or Rare earth metals
§ Identify a few chemical properties for the following groups
§ Alkali Metals
§ Alkaline Earth Metals
§ Halogens
§ Noble gases
o Trends - how do the following properties vary across a row and down a column of the periodic table?
§ Atomic and ionic radii
§ Ionization energy, electron affinity
§ Electronegativity
§ Metallic character
o Atomic structure and the periodic table
§ How does the number of protons affect the position of an element on the table?
§ Compare the electron configurations of elements in a column
§ Compare the electron configurations of elements in a row
§ Identify the location of the s-block, p-block, d-block and f-block
Periodic Table Web Sites
If you did the Element Project WebQuest, you may have already looked at these sites. This time instead of using the sites to get information about an element, examine the representations of the periodic tables at each site. What information about the organization of the periodic table can you discover at each site?
Chemical Elements.com
Chemicool Periodic Table
Environmental Chemistry.com
Los Alamos National Laboratory Periodic Table
Periodic Table of the Elements
Pictorial Periodic Table
ThinkQuest Periodic Table
University of British Columbia Periodic Table
University of Texas - Department of Chemistry Periodic Table
Visual Elements Periodic Table
WebElements
Periodicity Web Sites
These are a few sites that contain information about periodicity. All of these sites are college lecture or tutorial sites for general chemistry classes.
Mendeleev's Law of Periodicity - College of William and Mary
Periodicity - Floyd College
Periodicity of the Elements - State University of West Georgia - Power Point Presentation
History of the Periodic Table
Chemical Heritage Foundation - Chemical Achievers
Periodic Table.com - slow site, but contains an interesting 3-D version of the table
The Periodic Table - History
Visual Elements - History of the Periodic Table
Conclusion
You should have an appreciation for the usefulness of the periodic table and for the scientists who developed it In future units, you will use the periodic table to predict the formulas of compounds and their possible behavior.