Crucially, the place of an element within the periodic table reflects its electronic configuration which ultimately determines boths its chemical and physical properties. Location = number of valence ...

Elements in group 1 and group 2 are metals. Atoms of group 1 elements have one electron in their outer shell, and atoms of group 2 elements have two electrons in their outer shell. Elements in ...

We find that it is the 4s orbital electrons that are ionised first before the 3d orbitals. We have to conclude that, ironically for the d-block elements, the 4s orbitals are in fact higher in energy ...