What is the chemistry of the representative elements?

Question

Mateo Aguilar · Accepted Answer

Would you refine this question?

The #"representative elements"# are a bit of an old-fashioned term, and refers to the Group 1 and Group 2 metals, i.e. the alkali metals, and the alkaline earths, and the non-transition metal elements in Groups 13 to 18..... All of these elements have typically (but not exclusively) the one oxidation state (there are of course subvalent compounds), and fairly predictable chemistry in terms of symmetry and reactivity.

Jose Ayala · Answer

undefined The elements in the periodic table that are referred to as representative elements, or main group elements, are groups 1, 2, and 13–18. These elements display different chemical properties depending on their atomic structures and electron configurations. For instance, Group 1 elements, or alkali metals, are highly reactive metals that easily lose an electron to form a +1 cation; Group 2 elements, or alkaline earth metals, are also metals, but less reactive than Group 1; Group 17 elements, or halogens, are nonmetals that usually gain one electron to achieve a stable electron configuration; and Group 18 elements, or noble gases, are inert gases with complete valence electron shells, which make them highly stable and unreactive under normal circumstances. The remaining representative elements display a variety of behaviors between the