Chem Test Question

[nickl]

Hi All,

I had my chem final this morning, and one of the questions was asking about the most chemically similar group of elements. I narrowed down the answers down to:

Group 1: Hydrogen, Lithium, and Sodium

Group 2: Aluminum, Gallium, and Indium.

 

Which would be correct? (I put Aluminum, Gallium and Indium)

 

[pablopg69]

Isn't H, Li, and Na part of the same family and row in the periodic table? Would that make them more similar than 2?

[Philosobyte]

Hydrogen, Lithium, and Sodium. Aluminum, gallium, and indium are not that similar because of the metalloid staircase - aluminum is a metalloid, I'm not sure whether or not gallium is a metalloid, but indium is for sure a metal, not a metalloid. So they're not as similar as the Group I elements. 

 

Furthermore, aluminum doesn't have a filled d-orbital, while gallium, and indium do. That means they have different oxidation states and can react in different ways/with different things. Hydrogen, lithium, and sodium are only capable of a +1 oxidation state because of their lack of a d-orbital and also because of their low ionization energy. Actually hydrogen can be -1 too, but that dissimilarity is not as bad as the other things I mentioned. 

[Josephdalepi]

Hi All,

I had my chem final this morning, and one of the questions was asking about the most chemically similar group of elements. I narrowed down the answers down to:

Group 1: Hydrogen, Lithium, and Sodium

Group 2: Aluminum, Gallium, and Indium.

 

Which would be correct? (I put Aluminum, Gallium and Indium)

sorry, you got it wrong

most chemistry teachers forget to tell you the hydrogen is a metal, it just doesnt show up unless under weird conditions

your guess wasnt bad, but as the guy above stated, metalloid staircase

[byalexandr]

H, Li, and Na are all 1+ ions.

[nickl]

Isn't H, Li, and Na part of the same family and row in the periodic table? Would that make them more similar than 2?

The elements from both groups are in the same group. H, Li, and Na, are in group 1, and Ga, Al, and In are in group 3, so there is no difference there...

 

Row and family are different, btw...

[nickl]

sorry, you got it wrong

most chemistry teachers forget to tell you the hydrogen is a metal, it just doesnt show up unless under weird conditions

your guess wasnt bad, but as the guy above stated, metalloid staircase

 

Hydrogen, Lithium, and Sodium. Aluminum, gallium, and indium are not that similar because of the metalloid staircase - aluminum is a metalloid, I'm not sure whether or not gallium is a metalloid, but indium is for sure a metal, not a metalloid. So they're not as similar as the Group I elements. 

 

Furthermore, aluminum doesn't have a filled d-orbital, while gallium, and indium do. That would make aluminum even more dissimilar from the rest. Hydrogen, lithium, and sodium don't have to deal with that. Hydrogen, lithium, and sodium tend to react in the same ways because they are only capable of a +1 oxidation state.

Welp, I guess I didn't get them all right then...

[The Official Czex]

H, Li, Na. They all have one electron in their valence orbital, making them all highly reactive.

[nickl]

H, Li, Na. They all have one electron in their valence orbital, making them all highly reactive.

But don't the others all have 3 valence electrons?

[Philosobyte]

 

But don't the others all have 3 valence electrons?

That's correct, and that's why we can't just go off of the number of valence electrons, but also where they're at, and subsequently what kind of effect the removal, addition, or sharing of electrons would have.