Name: _______________________________________________ Period: _______________ Date: _____________
The Periodic Table of the Elements Activity
Introduction:
The modern periodic table is a table of all of the known elements. They are arranged according to a very specific
method determined by their physical and chemical properties. Things that are periodic have a regular repeating
pattern.
Instructions:
Read and use your notes to answer and complete the following questions.
The first periodic table that arranged elements in rows (periods) of increasing atomic ___________ was published by
__________________. He also arranged them in columns (groups or families) by similarities in ___________ and
__________ properties.
_________________ experimentally discovered ___________ in 1913 which led to the realization that the
Mendeleev Periodic Table could not be the final answer.
_________________ modified the periodic table in 1913. The groups/families where arranged similarly to the first
periodic table; but he arranged the rows (periods) by increasing atomic ______________. This was the basic
structure of the Periodic Table used today.
__________________ identified the first several elements of the lanthanide and actinide series.
Directions to color your Periodic Table:
1. Make the line on the staircase on the right side of the Periodic Table darker using a black colored pencil.
a. Elements touching the staircase are metalloids.
b. Elements to the right of the staircase that do not touch the staircase are nonmetals.
c. Elements to the left of the staircase that do not touch the staircase are metals.
2. Outline each family using the color listed in the table below.
3. Write the family name on top of the column of each family.
4. Write the symbols for each element in the family in the box provided in the table below.
Column
Family Name
Color
1A
(except hydrogen)
Alkali Metals
Purple
2A
Alkaline Earth Metals
Blue
3B-12B
Transition Metals
Light Blue
Elements on the staircase
(except aluminum)
Metalloids
Yellow
7A
Halogens
Pink
8A
Noble Gases
White
Nonmetals
Orange
Metals
Green
Lanthanide Series
Inner Transition Metals
Teal
Actinide Series
Inner Transition Metals
Teal
Elements to the right of the
staircase
(and hydrogen)
Elements to the left of the
staircase
List Element Symbols
5. Put a yellow stripe through elements 1, 7, 8, 9, 17, 35, 53. These elements consist of diatomic atoms, which
combine in pairs such as N2, I2, etc.
List the DIATOMIC elements here: ____________________________________________________________.
Questions:
6. Hydrogen is the least dense of the elements and it floats in the air. It is a nonmetal although it is found on
the side of the periodic table with the metals because its properties in common with them.
a. What is the atomic number of Hydrogen? ____________
b. What is its atomic mass? ________________
c. How many neutrons and electrons does a neutral atom have? ________________________________
7. Metalloids are found on the periodic table between metals and nonmetals. What does this mean about their
properties?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Which families of elements are mostly metals?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Which families of elements contain nonmetals?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
10. What period contains the heaviest (most mass) elements on the periodic table?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
11. What happens to the mass of the elements as you go down a family on the periodic table?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
12. What happens to the mass of elements as you go to across a period (from left to right) on the periodic table?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
13. Why do you believe this table of elements is called “periodic”?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Which has physical and chemical properties more in common, elements in a row (period), or elements in a
column (group)?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
15. Mention 2 elements that will behave similar chemically to calcium according to the answer on question 14.