C2 Group 1 Elements

Question 1

What are group 1 metals known as?

Answer 1

Alkali metals

Question 2

How are alkali metals stored and handled?

Answer 2

Stored in oil and handled with forceps

Question 3

What type of reaction do you get between group one elements and water?

Answer 3

Vigorous reaction

Question 4

List alkali metals (group1) 6

Answer 4

Lithium
Sodium
Potassium
Rubidium
Caesium
Francium

Question 5

How many electrons do alkali metals have in their outer shells?

Answer 5

One

Question 6

What kind of reactions do group 1 elements have?

Answer 6

They are very reactive

Question 7

What properties do group 1 elements share?

Answer 7

Soft and low density (first 3 in group are less dense than water)

Question 8

List the trends for alkali metals as you go down the group 5

Answer 8

Increasing reactivity 
Lower melting and boiling point
Higher relative atomic mass
Higher density
Decrease in hardness

Question 9

What kind of structures do group 1 metals form?

Answer 9

Regular structures

Question 10

What kind of bonds hold the regular structures formed by group 1 metals together?

Answer 10

Metallic bonds

Question 11

How do the outer electrons behave in metallic bonds?

Answer 11

The outer electron of each atom is free to move around (delocalised).

There are strong attractions between the outer electrons and positively charged nuclei.

Question 12

What happens to the atoms as you go down group 1?

Answer 12

They get bigger

Question 13

What effect do bigger atoms have as you go down group 1 metals?

Answer 13

The nucleus is further away from the free electrons, so the attraction gets weaker.

Question 14

What do weaker attractions mean for metallic bonds?

Answer 14

Less energy is needed to break the metallic bonds and turn the solid metal into a liquid and then a gas.

Question 15

What effect do lower attractions have on melting/boiling point in group 1 metals?

Answer 15

Melting and boiling point decrease as you go down the group.

Weaker attractions mean less energy is needed to break the metallic bonds.

Question 16

Why a re group 1 metals very reactively?

Answer 16

Because they readily lose their single outer electron to form a 1+ ion with a stable electronic structure

Question 17

Complete this sentence

The more readily a metal loses its outer electron, the more……

Answer 17

……reactive it is.

Question 18

What happens to the alkali metals as you go down group 1?

Answer 18

The alkali metals get more reactive.

Question 19

Why is the negatively charged outer electron less strongly attracted to the positively charged nucleus, as you go down group 1?

Answer 19

Because it’s further away from the nucleus, less energy is needed to remove it.

Question 20

What do state symbols next to each substance show?

Answer 20

What physical state the reactants and products are in.

Question 21

List the state symbols 4

Answer 21

(s) solid
(l) liquid
(g) gas
(aq) aqueous

Question 22

What does aqueous mean?

Answer 22

Dissolved in water

Question 23

For chemical reaction symbol equation example see p 22

Answer 23

.

Question 24

Explain the trend in reactivity as you go down group 1 (2 marks)

Answer 24

As you go further down the group, the outer electron is further away from the nucleus (1 mark)
This means the attraction between the nucleus and the electron decreases, so the electron is more easily removed. This results in an increase in reactivity (1 mark)