Elements and the Periodic Table - GRE Subject Test: Chemistry

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Question

Which of the following would have the greatest atomic radius?

Answer

Atomic radius increases down each group of the periodic table and toward the left of each period. Since the elements listed are all in the same group, iodine would have the greatest atomic radius because it farther down the period compared to the others.

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Question

Which of the following elements has the greatest atomic radius?

Answer

Atomic radius can be determined using the periodic trends. Atomic radius increases to the left of a period and down a group of the periodic table. Electronegativity, in contrast, increases to the right of a period and up a group of the periodic table. Relating the two, we can see that the greater the atomic radius, the weaker its electronegativity because the electrons are farther away from the nucleus and are unable to feel the attractive force of the protons in the nucleus.

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Question

Which of the given atoms has the largest atomic radius?

Answer

Lithium, boron, oxygen, and neon are all in the same row (period) of the periodic table.

The atomic radius decreases from left to right along a period due to increased effective nuclear force. From left to right the atomic number increases, indicating that more protons are added. The addition of protons increases the positive charge in the nucleus, pulling in the outer electrons by increasing the effective nuclear force, decreasing the radius.

In math terms, we can equate effective nuclear force using the force equation between two charged particles.

We can see that the farther apart the electrons and protons are, the less the force is between them.

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Question

Which of the given atoms has the smallest atomic radius?

Answer

Nitrogen, phosphorous, antimony, and bismuth are all in the same group (column) of the periodic table.

The atomic radius increases from the top of a group to the bottom, due to increased principle shell number (n). As one travels down a group, another s shell is added, meaning that electrons are added in another orbit farther from the nucleus. This serves to increase the atomic radius of the atom.

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Question

Which of the following correctly describes the trend for atomic radius in the periodic table of elements?

Answer

Energy level increases moving down a group of the periodic table. As energy level increases, the outer valence shell becomes more distant from the nucleus, causing atomic radius to increase.

Energy level remains constant across a period, but electrons are added within the same orbitals. When new electrons are added within the same orbital, additional protons are also added to the nucleus. This increases the effective nuclear charge, pulling the electrons closer to the nucleus. The trend for atomic radius is to decrease as we move right along a row.

This means that the general trend for atomic radius is to increase as one moves to the left and downward on the periodic table.

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Question

Which of the following has the largest atomic radius?

Answer

Atomic radius increases with increasing effective nuclear charge (Z). Elements toward the right and toward the top of the periodic table have the highest Z values. Protons and electrons are added in pairs as we traverse the periodic table from left to right. A attractive force is established between the positively-charged nucleus and the negatively-charged electron cloud, which increases as the number of particles grows.

When electrons are added or taken away without the same happening to a proton, an imbalance of charge accumulates. When more electrons are present than normal, the electron cloud sags farther away from the nucleus. When fewer electrons are present than normal, the electron cloud is drawn in more tightly toward the nucleus. Atoms with extra electrons (a negative charge) will have larger nuclei than their neutral counterparts. A chloride ion will thus has a larger atomic radius than argon, a potassium ion, or a calcium ion.

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Question

Which of the following alkali metals has the greatest atomic radius?

Answer

The trend for atomic radius is to increase going from top to bottom, as additional valence shells are added to the atom. Out of the answer choices, rubidium has the highest energy valence shell.

With a single electron in the fifth energy level, krypton will have the highest number of energy levels of the group I elements listed.

When moving across a period, atomic radius will decrease as the number of protons increases. These protons increase the attraction between the high-energy electrons and the nucleus, effectively "shrinking" the electron cloud.

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Question

Which of the following atoms has the largest atomic radius?

Answer

Most people clearly understand that atomic radius will increase as you go down the periodic table. However, going from left to right will actually decrease atomic radius. The reason is that the increased positive charge in the nucleus from the added protons will pull the electrons closer, decreasing the radius. Of the given options, arsenic and selenium are in the lowest row, but arsenic is more to the left. As a result, it has the largest atomic radius.

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Question

Which atom would be expected to have the largest atomic radius?

Answer

The radius of an atom is determined by the sizes of the orbitals on its outermost shell. Below are the atomic radius trends:

1. Atomic radius increases from top to bottom within each column.

2. Atomic radius decreases from left to right within each period.

Because calcium is located closest to the bottom right on the periodic table, it has the highest atomic radius. Namely, this is due to the fact that calcium's highest energy electron is in the fourth energy shell.

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Question

Which atom would be expected to have the smallest atomic radius?

Answer

The radius of an atom is determined by the sizes of the orbitals on its outermost shell. Below are the atomic radius trends:

1. Atomic radius increases from top to bottom within each column.

2. Atomic radius decreases from left to right within a period.

Because nitrogen is furthest to the the top right on the periodic table, it has the smallest atomic radius.

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Question

Which of the following atoms has the largest atomic radius?

Answer

Atomic radius increases down the periodic table and to the left. The atoms provided are all located on the same period (row). Lithium is located furthest to the left so it has the largest atomic radius. The reason for this phenomenon is that all of these atoms have their valence electrons in the n=2 energy level. However, each time we move to the right one atom, we add another electron to the valence shell and another proton in the nucleus. The more of each of these subatomic particles, the stronger the attractive force between them, thus the protons will pull the electrons closer to the nucleus, resulting in a smaller atomic radius.

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Question

Which atom would be expected to have the highest atomic radius?

Answer

The radius of an atom is determined by the sizes of the orbitals on its outermost shell. Below are the

atomic radius trends:

1. Atomic radius increases from top to bottom within each column.

2. Atomic radius decreases from left to right.

All the options given are located in row 4 of the periodic table. Because titanium is located furthest to the right on the periodic table, it has the highest atomic radius.

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Question

Electronegativity is an important concept in physical chemistry, and often used to help quantify the dipole moment of polar compounds. Polar compounds are different from those compounds that are purely nonpolar or purely ionic. An example can be seen by contrasting sodium chloride, NaCl, with an organic molecule, R-C-OH. The former is purely ionic, and the latter is polar covalent.

When comparing more than one polar covalent molecule, we use the dipole moment value to help us determine relative strength of polarity. Dipole moment, however, is dependent on the electronegativity of the atoms making up the bond. Electronegativity is a property inherent to the atom in question, whereas dipole moment is a property of the bond between them.

For example, oxygen has an electronegativity of 3.44, and hydrogen of 2.20. In other words, oxygen more strongly attracts electrons when in a bond with hydrogen. This leads to the O-H bond having a dipole moment.

When all the dipole moments of polar bonds in a molecule are summed, the molecular dipole moment results, as per the following equation.

Dipole moment = charge * separation distance

Electronegativity is associated with another function, electron affinity. What is true of electron affinity?

Answer

Chlorine has a great thermodynamic desire to capture an electron, thus taking on the electronic structure of a stable noble gas. This causes chlorine to release energy when it captures an electron as it becomes more stable.

Sodium, on the other hand, would prefer to lose an electron and gain the configuration of a noble gas. Adding an electron would however award some stability to sodium, due to the complete s orbital that this would ensue.

Second electron affinity is usually encountered for such elements as oxygen and sulfur, which form anions with the addition of two electrons. The first electron affinity gives you O- or S-, and so it takes significant energy to add another electron to an already negative ion.

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Question

Which of the given atoms has the lowest electron affinity?

Answer

Beryllium, calcium, strontium, and radium are all alkaline earth metals in the same group of the periodic table.

The electron affinity, a measure of the energy released when an atom gains an electron (an exothermic reaction), decreases from the top of a group (column) to the bottom. The trends in electron affinity can be correlated with ionization energy. When a smaller atom gains an electron, the force between the electron and nucleus is greater than in a larger atom; thus, more energy is released when this “bond” between the nucleus and electron is formed in a smaller atom than in a larger atom, meaning that smaller atoms will have greater electron affinity. Radium is the farthest down the group of alkaline earth metals, and will have the largest atomic radius of the answer choices, giving it the lowest electron affinity.

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Question

Which of the given atoms has the greatest electron affinity?

Answer

Sodium, aluminum, phosphorus, and chlorine are all in the same row (period) of the periodic table.

The electron affinity, a measure of the energy released when an atom gains an electron (an exothermic reaction), increases from left to right across the periodic table because when a smaller atom gains an electron, the force between the electron and nucleus is greater than with a larger atom. More energy is released when this “bond” between the nucleus and electron is formed. Chlorine has the smallest atomic radius of the answer choices because it is located farthest to the right of the period; thus, chlorine will also have the greatest attractive force between its nucleus and electrons, giving it the highest electron affinity.

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Question

Which element would experience the greatest energy loss when a neutral atom in the gaseous phase gains one additional electron?

Answer

This question refers to electron affinity, which is defined as the energy given off when a neutral atom in the gas phase gains an extra electron.

Electron affinity increases for elements towards the top and right of the periodic table, so the elements in the top right lose the most energy when gaining an electron. Another way of thinking is that they lose energy, but gain stability. Of the available answers, the element to the most upper right of the periodic table is fluorine.

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Question

Atoms have characteristic electronegativities and electron affinities. Which of the following best describes the difference between these two terms?

Answer

Electronegativity and electron affinity can be easily confused. Both terms describe resistance to electron gain, but they do so by different classifications. Electronegativity describes how readily an atom will become an anion, or how easily it will accept an electron. The halogens have extremely high electronegativities, while the noble gases have virtually zero electronegativity. In contrast, electron affinity describes the energy change when an electron is added to an atom. The halogens, again, have very high electron affinities. The noble gases will sometimes have negative electron affinities, indicating that it is an exothermic process to remove an electron from these elements.

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Question

Which of the following atoms has the lowest electronegativity?

Answer

Electronegativity is the tendency for an atom to attract electrons. This tendency increases as you move upward and to the right on the periodic table. Of the given options, chlorine is the farthest up and to the right, so it is the most electronegative. The least electronegative atom would be selenium, as it is the lowest and leftmost option.

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Question

Electronegativity __________.

Answer

Electronegativity is a property that describes an atom's ability to attract and bond to electrons. There numerical estimates for the electronegativity of elements which differences can be used to estimate whether a bond is ionic, nonpolar covalent, or covalent. Within each period of the periodic table, there is an increase in electronegativity from left to right. Electronegativity also decreases with increasing atomic number in each group with minor exceptions among transition metals.

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Question

Ionization energy __________ and atomic radius __________ down a group of the periodic table.

Answer

Elements within a group have the same number of valence electrons, but in increasing energy levels. Elements toward the bottom of a group have valence electrons with higher energies in larger orbitals. This results in a larger radius and a weaker attractive force between the nucleus and outer electrons. The ionization energy decreases as the electrons are more removed from the attraction of the nucleus.

When moving down a group, atomic radius increases and ionization energy decreases.

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