What is the location of elements in the periodic table related to?

Answer 1

The layout of the table indicates various properties of the chemical elements using a logical grouping by row and column.

The Periodic Table is laid out so that reading from left to right and top to bottom, each chemical element is listed in the order of atomic number, which is the number of protons in the atomic nucleus of that element. At the top of the table, Hydrogen (H) is element (atomic) number 1, to the right Helium (He) is element number 2, Down one row and from left Lithium (Li) is element number 3 and so on. Thus those elements near the top of the table such as Hydrogen (H) are the lightest and those near the bottom of the table such as Uranium (U) are the heaviest. Elements towards the bottom of the table are more likely to be radioactive.

The column structure of the table indicates similar chemical properties for the elements in that column. The first column from the left contains the group known as the Alkali Metals and all of these elements have a single electron in the outermost electron orbit around the atomic nucleus, known as the "outer shell". This electron configuration determines the types of chemical reaction which may occur with these elements. The second column from the left contains the group known as the Alkaline Earth Metals and all these elements have two electrons in the outer shell and hence have similar chemical properties. The column on the far right contains the elements known as the "Noble Gases" that have their outer shell "filled" with electrons and these elements do not generally react chemically with other elements. Thus those elements that appear in any one column will have similar chemical properties to each other and the same type of electron configuration in the outer shell.

Most of the elements in the table are metals and appear towards the left and bottom of the table. The non-metal elements are towards the top and right of the table. The area of the table between the metals and non-metals includes the elements known as "semiconductors" such as Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge).

Answer 2

Elements are in boxes, and their names are indicated by either one or two letter abbreviations, for example, O is for oxygen, Fe is for iron.