Lesson Plan: and 3 Periods in Terms of Variation in Melting Points, Boiling Points and Ionisation Energies
Lesson Plan: and 3 Periods in Terms of Variation in Melting Points, Boiling Points and Ionisation Energies
Aim: To investigate the variation in physical properties with proton numbers across the 2nd and 3rd periods
in terms of variation in melting points, boiling points and ionisation energies.
Learning Outcomes :
Underlying Principles
Differentiation
Questions in the student notes are designed to enable all students to complete the activity. The pop-up
answers are provided for the students to view when they have considered their responses. Worksheet
questions include questions that require recall, understanding and application of the new concepts
learned.
1.1 The melting points start fairly high and increase to a maximum in the middle of the periods. There is
then a drastic drop to relatively low values for the rest of the period. The lowest value is for the noble
gases.
1.2 a. In beryllium there is metallic bonding. This is very strong because beryllium atoms are small and the
outer electrons are close to the nucleus. Therefore, the metallic bonding resulting from the
attraction between the metallic ions in the lattice and the delocalised valence electrons holding
them together will be strong.
b. In silicon, each atom is covalently linked to four other atoms in a giant network, like diamond. The
melting point is high because many strong bonds will have to be broken if the lattice is to collapse to
a liquid.
1.3 In diamond, the strong covalent bonds form a giant network linking all the atoms in the crystal
together. A lot of energy is needed to break these covalent bonds in order for diamond to melt.
Oxygen consists of simple molecules with only weak van der Waals forces between them. Less
energy is needed to break these forces.
1.4 a. The enthalpy of vaporisation should, like the boiling point, rise to a maximum towards the middle of
the periods and then suddenly to much lower values for the rest of the period.
b. Higher. The metals in Period 2 have higher melting and boiling points than the corresponding
metals in Period 3. This is because the atoms of the metals in Period 2 are smaller resulting in
strong metallic bonds. More energy is needed to break the stronger metallic bonds.
c. Lower. The melting and boiling points for the last 4 elements in Period 2 are very low. This is
because they consist of small molecules with very weak forces of attraction between them. Their
enthalpies of vaporisation should also be very low as a result. In Period 3 the molecules of the non-
metals are much larger, with greater forces of attraction between them.
2.1 a. Across each period the effective nuclear charge increases thus pulling the valence electrons closer to
the nucleus.
b. The 1st ionisation energy of magnesium is larger than that of sodium, because although the outer
electron is in the same (3s) orbital, the nuclear charge increases by +1. Therefore, the valence
electron in magnesium is more strongly held and needs more energy to remove it.
The size of the beryllium atom is smaller than that of the magnesium atom. The effective nuclear
charge of both is almost similar. Therefore, the attraction between the valence electrons and the
nucleus is greater.
2.2 a. The valence electronic configuration of magnesium is 3s2 whereas for aluminium, it is 3s2, 3p1. The
full s orbital of magnesium is more stable than the partially filled p orbital of aluminium.
b. The effective nuclear charge for chlorine is greater than that for sulphur while its
atomic size is smaller. Therefore, it requires more energy to remove the valence
electrons from chlorine than sulphur.