Lesson 4: Trends in Chemical Reactivity
This lesson focuses on how the periodic trends influence the chemical reactivity of elements and their compounds.
- Trends in Metallic and Non-metallic Character: Metallic character decreases across a period and increases down a group. Non-metallic character follows the opposite trend. This helps explain why elements on the left side of the table are good reducing agents, while those on the right are good oxidizing agents.
- Nature of Oxides and Halides: Students will learn how the nature of oxides changes across a period, from basic (metallic oxides) to amphoteric to acidic (non-metallic oxides). The properties of halides will also be discussed, including their stability and reactivity.
- Predicting Chemical Behavior: By understanding all the periodic trends discussed in the previous lessons, students will be able to predict the chemical behavior of an element simply by knowing its position in the periodic table. For example, knowing that an element is in Group 17, students can predict it will be a highly reactive non-metal with a strong tendency to gain one electron
