What elements have similar characteristics in a periodic table?

Answer 1

Elements are put into groups on The Periodic Table and are similar to other element in that group for example:

Group 1 - Alkali Metals - Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr - All explosive in water.

Group 2 - Alkaline Earth Metals - Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, (Ra) - All silvery white metal.

Group 0 - Inert Gases - He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, (Rn) - All highly unreactive.

Elements are also similar to their own group in their electron configuration.

Similarly for periods, every element in that period has the same amount of electron shells. For example, in Period 2 every element has two electron shells.

Answer 2

On the periodic table, there are groups or families (columns). Each group contains elements that have similar chemical and physical properties. So to find a similar element, just look to other elements in the same group.

For example, if you are looking for elements similar to Helium, you would just have to look to the elements further down the group such as Neon, Argon, etc.