Simon Lee

Johnson (5)
Chem 10
26 October 2010
Platinum
The modern periodic table was developed by Dmitri Mendeleev and it was created
based on the physical and chemical properties of the elements. Those properties are what
gave birth to the different groups, which are vertical, and periods, which are horizontal.
Characteristics such as the radii of the atom, oxidation number, and electronegativity, all
determine the position of the elements in their specific groups and periods while the electron
configuration is determined by the placement of the element on the table. Platinum, the 78th
element and with an atomic mass of 195.08, is placed in group 8B and period 6 for those and
other reasons.
All known elements in the world today are metals, nonmetals, or metalloids. This
information can be seen by looking at the periodic table itself. On the right side of the table is
a line that takes the shape of a staircase and stretches from Boron all the way to Astatine. This
line is what separates the metals, nonmetals, and metalloids. All elements to the right of this
line are metals, all elements to the left of this line are nonmetals, and all elements touching
this line are metalloids, not including aluminum, which is a metal. This obviously makes
Platinum a metal. This information can also be found by looking at the element itself. Metals
are always shiny, malleable, good conductors, and they react in acid. Nonmetals, on the other
hand, are the exact opposite and they are dull, brittle, bad conductors, and they do not react.
Metalloids, though a mix of both, are usually shiny, brittle, semi-conductors and they do not
react. Platinum has the same properties of that of the metal category and thus makes it a
metal.
The atomic radius of an element is the distance from the nucleus to the outer electron
energy level. The atomic radius tends to decrease as the table goes left and right and increase
as the table goes up and down. It decreases left to right because there is an equal amount of
electron shielding but there is an increase in pull from the protons in the nucleus. It increases
going up to down because there is a greater amount of shielding from the previous outer
electrons but an equal amount of electrons, thus making the electrons want to leave the
nucleus, thus making the radius larger. The atomic radius of platinum is 139µm. The ionic
radius is distance from the nucleus to the outer electron energy level of the atom when it
gains or loses an electron. When an atom loses an electron, the atom tends to become smaller
due to the loss of an electron in the outer energy level and tends to grow larger when gaining
an electron due to the increase of electrons in the outer energy level. The ionic radius of
platinum, when gaining losing 4 electrons is 65 and 80 when it loses 2 electrons.
The ionization energy of an element is the amount of energy that it takes for an atom
to lose its first electron. The patter for this is the exact opposite of the atomic radius. The
ionization energy increases left to right and decreases top to bottom. The reason for the
increase is because there is an equal amount of shielding but a greater amount of pull on the
Simon Lee
Johnson (5)
Chem 10
26 October 2010
electrons which makes it harder for other atoms to pull the electron away. Also, it decreases
because there is a similar amount of electrons down a group but greater shielding going
down, thus making it easier for other atoms to take the electron. The ionization energy of
platinum is 870 kJ. The electronegativity of an element is the opposite of ionization energy in
that, it is the ability for an element to receive and attract electrons. The pattern across the
periodic table is the same as the ionization energy because of all of the same reasons. It
increases from left to right across the periodic table because there is a stronger pull from the
protons in the nucleus and it decreases from top to bottom because there is less pull from the
protons because of the increased shielding effect from the inner electrons. The
electronegativity of platinum is 2.28 on the Pauling scale. Oxidation number is the number
that is the product of ionization energy and electronegativity. When an atom loses, an
electron, it becomes a positive state. An example would be if gold gained two electrons, then
it would be -2. If gold were to lose an electron, it would become +2. The oxidation number
for platinum is 6 and the common maximum oxidation number is 4.
Finally, the electron configuration of platinum is [Xe].6s2.4f14.5d9. The reason behind
this is that platinum’s electron fills up completely up to Xenon’s configuration, then it
completely fills the s-sublevel, the f-sublevel and then stops at only 9 filled places in the d-
sublevel, which accounts for the 5d9.
The periodic table is arranged in patterns in both the groups and periods, which are
vertical and horizontal. The reason for these patterns is because Medeleev noticed that a
pattern formed when placing the elements according to atomic number. This categorization
also gave birth to the pattern for atomic radius, ionization energy, electronegativity, and
oxidation number. Platinum, like most of the other elements in the table, fit in appropriately.