Programme 17: Atomic Structure

Answers to Activity Sheet 3

Electron Arrangement

Details of this activity can be found on the accompanying worksheet. The students create a series of small pictures showing the electron arrangement of the first twenty elements. These are then glued onto paper to form a simple Periodic Table. The table is then used to consider patterns in the outer electrons of groups 1, 7 and 0.

Each student will need the worksheet, a sheet of blank atomic orbital cards, a sheet of A4 paper and access to scissors and glue.

1. The outermost electron shells.
2. 1
3. 7
4. Atoms with similar properties seem to have the same number of electrons in their outside shell.
5. They all have full outer shells.
6. In groups 1 to 7 the group number is the same as the number of electrons in the outside shell. Group 0 is an exception to this having full outer shells.
7. They are all unreactive gases.
8. The number of electrons in the outer shell of an element seems to be linked to the way that element behaves.