Question

Name two elements you would expect to show chemical reactions similar to Magnesium. What is the basis of your choice?

Answer 1

Electronic configuration:

1. An element's electron configuration describes the distribution of electrons in its atomic orbitals.
2. Electron configurations can be used for a variety of purposes like calculating an element's valency, predicting a group of elements' qualities (elements with similar electron configurations tend to exhibit similar properties as they will belong to the same group), The interpreting atomic spectra
3. Elements with the same valence electron will also have the same chemical properties.
4. Magnesium has an atomic number$=12$ has an electronic configuration$=1{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{p}}^{6}3{\mathrm{s}}^2$. Number of valence electron $=2$
5. Therefore, elements that will have valence electrons$=2$ will have similar chemical reactions as Magnesium.
6. Calcium with atomic number$=20$ has an electronic configuration$=1{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{p}}^{6}3{\mathrm{s}}^{2}3{\mathrm{p}}^{6}4{\mathrm{s}}^2$. Number of valence electron$=2$
7. Similarly, Strontium with atomic number$=38$ has an electronic configuration$=1{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{p}}^{6}3{\mathrm{s}}^{2}3{\mathrm{p}}^{6}4{\mathrm{s}}^{2}3{\mathrm{d}}^{10}4{\mathrm{p}}^{6}5{\mathrm{s}}^2$. Number of valence electron$=2$
8. Hence, elements of the group $2$ will show similar chemical reactions to Magnesium.

Therefore, Calcium and Strontium show similar chemical reactions to Magnesium.