What do elements in the groups 1A through 8A have in common? (Choose all that apply)

Question

A) they all will have the same oxidation states for the ions they form.
B) they were all discovered around the same time.
C) they all have the same number of energy shells.
D) they all have similar properties. they all have the same number of energy shells
E) they all have the same number of valence electrons.

Answer 1

The elements in groups 1A through 8A of the periodic table (also known as the main group elements or representative elements) have the following in common:

A) they all will have the same oxidation states for the ions they form. (This is true for some groups, but not all elements within the groups necessarily have the same oxidation states.)

D) they all have similar properties. (This is correct. Elements within the same group exhibit similar chemical and physical properties.)

E) they all have the same number of valence electrons. (Correct. Each group has elements with the same number of valence electrons, which largely determines their chemical behavior.)

So, the correct answers are:

D) they all have similar properties. E) they all have the same number of valence electrons.

Options B) “they were all discovered around the same time” and C) “they all have the same number of energy shells” are incorrect as they do not apply universally to groups 1A through 8A.