Consider the elements Na, Mg and Al and their respective atomic numbers 11, 12 and 13. Write the electronic configuration of each element and answer the following question:
Assign the period to each element in the periodic table.
Electronic configuration
Atomic numbers of Sodium (), Magnesium () and Aluminium () are 11, 12 and 13 respectively.
Electronic configuration of Sodium = (2, 8, 1)
Electronic configuration of Magnesium = (2, 8, 2)
Electronic configuration of Aluminium = (2, 8, 3)
Period of elements
Since Sodium, Magnesium and Aluminium have electrons in K-shell, L-shell and M-shell, the total valence shells are 3.
Number of valence shell = Number of period
So, period number is 3.
Therefore, the period number of Sodium, Magnesium and Aluminium in the periodic table is 3.