Periodic Table And Periodicity

The first ionization potential generally increases across a period from left to right due to increasing nuclear charge, which holds the electrons more tightly, making it harder to remove an electron. However, there are some exceptions due to electronic configurations.For the period III elements , and S , the first ionization potentials would be arranged as follows:$ $$ 3 \mathrm{~s}^2 3 \mathrm{p}^3$ configuration, which is relatively stable, so its ionization potential is higher than that of silicon.S: The ionization potential of sulfur is slightly lower than that of phosphorus because adding an additional electron to the 3 p orbital causes electron-electron repulsion, making it slightly easier to remove an electron

The significant jump occurs between and for and and , indicating that has 3 valence electrons and has 4 . After removing these electrons, the next ionization energy is significantly higher, suggesting removal of an electron from a more stable inner shell.

An element’s group is determined by its outer-shell (valence) electrons. For the superheavy elements we expect the following pattern in period 8:Z = 119 → valence configuration 8s¹ → Group 1 (alkali metals)Z = 120 → valence configuration 8s² → Group 2 (alkaline earth metals)In more detail, the predicted electron configuration for Z = 120 is:$ $The two 8s electrons place it in Group 2.Answer: Option D (Alkaline earth metals).