Periodic Trends and Chemical Reactivity: Metallic and Non-Metallic, Basic, Acidic Character Across a Period and Down a Group
Periodic trends and chemical reactivity are important concepts in chemistry that explain how the physical and chemical properties of elements change across periods and down groups in the periodic table. These trends are mainly based on variations in atomic size, ionization enthalpy, electron gain enthalpy, electronegativity, metallic character, and non-metallic character. Understanding these periodic properties helps in predicting the behavior, reactivity, oxidising nature, reducing nature, and compound formation of different elements. The study of periodic trends also explains why metals and non-metals show different chemical properties and how the nature of oxides and hydroxides changes across the periodic table.