Periodicity and the p-block elements

This series of short texts provides accessible accounts of a range of essential topics in chemistry. Written with the needs of the student in mind, the Oxford Chemistry Primers offer just the right level of detail for undergraduate study, and will be invaluable as a source of material commonly presented in lecture courses yet not adequately covered in existing texts. All the basic principles and facts in a particular area are presented in a clear and straightforward style, to produce concise yet comprehensive accounts of topics covered in both core and specialist courses. The chemistry of the p-block elements is extremely diverse and it can sometimes seem to students that there is a vast body of knowledge which has to be learnt. The object of this text is to show students that most, if not all, of this knowledge can be rationalized if a number of general principles are understood and mastered. The text begins with an introduction to the electronic structures of atoms and shows how these ideas are useful in understanding why the periodic table has the form it does. The periodic aspects of element properties such as ionization energies and electronegativity are covered, and these concepts are used to understand the diverse physical nature of the p-block elements themselves. There is a survey of physical properties of p-block element compounds, and these are employed to provide a basis for understanding the nature of the compounds which the p-block elements form between themselves. The text continues with an account of periodic trends in acidity and basicity, and structural trends are addressed in the final chapter.