Group 2 part 1

You might see the name s-block used in books, which just refers to the metals in Group 1 and 2.

The s is referring to the outer shell of the electronic configuration, so you know that the electronic
configuration must end in something s.

See the electronic configuration tutorial if you are unsure about this.

Trends

Atomic Radius

the atomic radius gets bigger as you go down a group.

This is simply because extra shells of electrons are being added, which increases the radius.

Down a group, from element to element, you still have the same number of outer electrons, they will just
have a different number to indicate which orbital the outer electrons are in i.e. 2s, 3s, 4s etc. as they get
bigger.

Group 2 ions are smaller than those in group 1, due to a stronger nuclear charge (extra proton) for the
group 2 ions, which means everything is held tighter together.

Ionisation/Reactivity

When reactivity is mentioned for metals, they are specifically talking about how easily the metal loses its
outer electron(s).

the easier the electron is lost, the more reactive the metal is.

This all goes back to ionisation energy trends: the further the outer electron is from the nucleus, the
weaker the attraction, resulting in the electron being removed more easily. So ionisation energy
decreases down the group.

We can therefore conclude that as you go down the group, the reactivity increases.

Reactions

Reaction with Water

Metal + Water Metal Hydroxide + Hydrogen

 e.g. Group 1 2Na + 2H2O 2NaOH + H2

e.g. Group 2 Ca + 2H2O Ca(OH)2 + H2

watch out if they add water as steam rather than a liquid to a group 2 metal. In this case:

Metal + Water Metal Oxide + Hydrogen

e.g. Ca + H2O CaO + H2

Reactions with Oxygen

Metal + Oxygen Metal Oxide

e.g. Group 1 4Na + O2 2Na2O

e.g. Group 2 2Mg + O2 2MgO

Metal Oxide and water

Metal Oxide + Water Metal Hydroxide

e.g. Group 1 2NaO + H2O 2NaOH

e.g. Group 2 MgO + H2O Mg(OH)2

Metal Oxide/Hydroxide and acid

Metal Oxide/Hydroxide + Water Salt + Water

e.g. Group 1 NaOH + HCl NaCl + H2O

e.g. Group 2 MgO + 2HCl MgCl2 + H2O

Reactions with Chlorine

Metal + Chlorine -> Metal Chloride

e.g. Group 1 2Na + Cl2 2NaCl

e.g. Group 2 Mg + Cl2 MgCl2

Flame Colours
If you hold a metal under a flame it will give off a distinctive colour, which is useful for identification
purposes.

In a laboratory, you take a piece of wire (often platinum) and clean it by dipping it in some concentrated
hydrochloric acid (the acid also helps to give a bright intense colour when doing the test).

You then add some of the metal to the wire and stick it in a bunsen flame.

Cation Flame Colour

Lithium Red
Sodium Yellow
Potassium Lilac
Magnesium No colour
Calcium Orange/Brick Red
Strontium Red
Barium Pale Green

Why are there different colours?

This is all to do with electrons absorbing energy from the flame, which causes them to a jump to a
higher energy level.

The electrons will eventually fall back to a lower energy, and when they do, they release energy in the
form of light, which is the colour that you see.

Different metals will absorb different amounts of energy from the flame so you see different colours.

Solubility Trends
We are talking about ionic compounds with group 1 and 2 metal ions and either a hydroxide or sulphate
as the anion.

hydroxides increase in solubility down the group

sulphates decrease in solubility down the group

barium sulphate (BaSO4) is very insoluble and forms a white precipitate. It is used as a test for
sulphate ions. Add BaCl2 a precipitate of BaSO4.