1(d) The Periodic Table
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry · 4CH1
Paper 1 | Whole paper: Core content, all four topics
How the table is organised, what a Group and a Period tell you, and why the noble gases do nothing.
Specification coverage
Topic 1 Principles of chemistry (d) The Periodic Table — statements 1.22–1.26
Assessment objectives: AO1, AO2. Suggested learning time: 45 minutes.
Required knowledge
- The Periodic Table as an arrangement of elements in order of atomic number
- The meaning of Group and Period, and the link to electronic configuration
- The classification of elements as metals and non-metals, and where the division falls
- The relationship between Group number and number of outer electrons
- The unreactivity of the noble gases in terms of their electronic configurations
Required skills
- Predict an element's properties from its position
- Explain a trend using electronic configuration
How it is examined
- Multiple-choice and short-answer recall
- Application of the content to an unfamiliar context
- Extended open-response, marked on the quality of a connected explanation
Common mistakes
- Saying the table is ordered by relative atomic mass. It is ordered by atomic number — which is why tellurium precedes iodine.
- Explaining noble gas unreactivity as 'they are full' without naming the outer shell.