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What is the chemical symbol for silver?

The elements in group 2 are alkaline earth metals. These are shiny and silvery white in color. Other groups include noble gases (group 18), alkali metals (group 1), halogens (group 17), and transitional metals (groups 3 to 12).

CHEMISTRY CONNECTION

Because an element can have different isotopes, the mass on the periodic table is actually the average atomic mass of the element. This number is calculated using a weighted average of all the masses of all the isotopes of an element. An element’s place on the periodic table can also give information about its electron configuration, or where the atom’s electrons are located in orbitals. Elements in the same column have the same valence electron configurations, which are the electrons in the atom’s outermost energy level. As a result, they behave in similar ways.

With this knowledge, chemists can predict how atoms will react in different situations.

By using the periodic table, you can learn a lot about an element. For example, nitrogen (N) has an atomic number of 7. This number tells you that a neutral nitrogen atom has seven protons and seven electrons. Because nitrogen is in the second row or period of the table, its electrons can be found in two energy levels. You know that the first energy level contains two electrons. Putting it together, you can figure out that a nitrogen atom has two electrons in the first energy level and five electrons in the second energy level.

METALS, NONMETALS, AND METALLOIDS

On the periodic table, there is a line that starts in front of the element boron (B) and steps down the table and ends between polonium (Po) and astatine (At). This line separates metals and nonmetals. Elements that are metals are located on the left of the line, while nonmetals are found on the right.