Paper 2 - The Alkali Metals

Question 1

Explain the trend in reactivity in Group 1 in terms of electronic
configurations

Answer 1

• All group 1 metals have 1 electron in their outer shell
• The further down in group one the metal, the further that electron is from the nucleus
• So the attraction between the outermost electron and the nucleus becomes less
• So, the further down group 1, the bigger the atoms and the more easily the outer electron is lost so it is more reactive