Potassium and nickel are in the same row of the periodic table. What do these elements have in common? A. they have similar physical properties. B. they have the same number of electron shells. C. the have similar reactivity. D. they have the same number of valence electrons.

Question

Potassium and nickel are in the same row of the periodic table.  What do these elements have in common?  A. they have similar physical properties.  B. they have the same number of electron shells.  C. the have similar reactivity.  D. they have the same number of valence electrons.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

Potassium (K) and nickel (Ni) are in the same period (row) of the periodic table, but they belong to different groups (alkali metal and transition metal, respectively). The correct answer to what they have in common from the options given is:

B. they have the same number of electron shells.

Both elements have the same number of electron shells because they are in the same row (period) of the periodic table. Potassium is in group 1, while nickel is in group 10, but they both have four electron shells (1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d⁹ 4s² for Ni, and 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s¹ for K). The other options (similar physical properties, reactivity, or valence electrons) do not apply, as they differ significantly in these aspects.