Key Concepts
⚛ Electrons making up an atom are arranged in subshells.(1)
⚛ There are four types of subshells.
⚛ Each of the subshells is designated by a letter, either s, p, d or f:
s subshell, p subshell, d subshell, and f subshell
⚛ By considering which type of subshell is being filled with electrons we can see a pattern in the Periodic Table of the Elements:
s subshell: Group 1 , Group 2, hydrogen and helium
d subshell: Groups 3 to 12 (transition metals) /P>
p subshell: Groups 13 to 18
f subshell: lanthanoids and actinoids(2)
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Location of s, p, d, and f Blocks in the Periodic Table
The Periodic Table below probably looks a little bit different to the one you are used to seeing.
We have separated hydrogen (H) and helium (He) from the other main group elements.
Notice the location of the labels:
s block: first 2 columns on the left hand side of the Periodic Table
d block: 10 columns in the middle of the Periodic Table
p block: last 6 columns on the right hand side of the Periodic Table
f block: bottom 2 rows separated from the rest of the Periodic Table
| Period 1 | 1 H hydrogen 1.008 | 2 He helium 4.003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 | Group 8 | Group 9 | Group 10 | Group 11 | Group 12 | Group 13 | Group 14 | Group 15 | Group 16 | Group 17 | Group 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| s block | d block | p block | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period 2 | 3 Li lithium 6.941 | 4 Be beryllium 9.012 | 5 B boron 10.81 | 6 C carbon 12.01 | 7 N nitrogen 14.01 | 8 O oxygen 16.00 | 9 F fluorine 19.00 | 10 Ne neon 20.18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period 3 | 11 Na sodium 22.99 | 12 Mg magnesium 24.31 | 13 Al aluminium 26.98 | 14 Si silicon 28.09 | 15 P phosphorus 30.97 | 16 S sulfur 32.07 | 17 Cl chlorine 35.45 | 18 Ar argon 39.95 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period 4 | 19 K potassium 39.10 | 20 Ca calcium 40.08 | 21 Sc scandium 44.96 | 22 Ti titanium 47.87 | 23 V vanadium 50.94 | 24 Cr chromium 52.00 | 25 Mn manganese 54.94 | 26 Fe iron 55.85 | 27 Co cobalt 58.93 | 28 Ni nickel 58.69 | 29 Cu copper 63.55 | 30 Zn zinc 65.41 | 31 Ga gallium 69.72 | 32 Ge germanium 72.64 | 33 As arsenic 74.92 | 34 Se selenium 78.96 | 35 Br bromine 79.90 | 36 Kr krypton 83.80 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period 5 | 37 Rb rubidium 85.47 | 38 Sr strontium 87.62 | 39 Y yttrium 88.91 | 40 Zr zirconium 91.22 | 41 Nb niobium 92.91 | 42 Mo molybdenum 95.94 | 43 Tc technetium [97.91] | 44 Ru ruthenium 101.1 | 45 Rh rhodium 102.9 | 46 Pd palladium 106.4 | 47 Ag silver 107.9 | 48 Cd cadmium 112.4 | 49 In indium 114.8 | 50 Sn tin 118.7 | 51 Sb antimony 121.8 | 52 Te tellurium 127.6 | 53 I iodine 126.9 | 54 Xe xenon 131.3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period 6 | 55 Cs caesium 132.9 | 56 Ba barium 137.3 | 57 La lanthanum 138.9 | 72 Hf hafnium 178.5 | 73 Ta tantalum 180.9 | 74 W tungsten 183.8 | 75 Re rhenium 186.2 | 76 Os osmium 190.2 | 77 Ir iridium 192.2 | 78 Pt platinum 195.1 | 79 Au gold 197.0 | 80 Hg mercury 200.6 | 81 Tl thallium 204.4 | 82 Pb lead 207.2 | 83 Bi bismuth 209.0 | 84 Po polonium [209.0] | 85 At astatine [210.0] | 86 Rn radon [222.0] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period 7 | 87 Fr francium [223.0] | 88 Ra radium [226.0] | 89 Ac actinium [227.0] | 104 Rf rutherfordium [261.1] | 105 Db dubnium [262.1] | 106 Sg seaborgium [266.1] | 107 Bh bohrium [264.1] | 108 Hs hassium [277] | 109 Mt meitnerium [268] | 110 Ds darmstadtium [271] | 111 Rg roentgenium [272] | 112 Cn copernicium | 113 Nh nihonium | 114 Fl flerovium | 115 Mc moscovium | 116 Lv livermorium | 117 Ts tennessine | 118 Og oganesson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Relationship between s ,p, d, and f Blocks and the Periodic Table Groups
There is a distinct pattern to the location of the s, p, d and f blocks, which is directly related to the Groups of the Periodic Table:
| Block | Groups |
|---|---|
| s block | Group 1 (alkali metals) and Group 2 (alkaline earth metals) plus Period 1 (hydrogen and helium) |
| d block | Groups 3 to 12 (transition metals) |
| p block | Groups 13 to 18 (includes all Noble Gases, halogens and chalcogens) |
| f block | Lanthanoids and Actinoids |
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Relationship between s ,p, d, and f Blocks and Electronic Configuration
The labels s, p, d and f blocks of the Periodic Table refer to the subshell that is being filled with electrons.
⚛ Group 1 elements occur at the beginning of a new row (Period) of the Periodic Table.
The highest energy level (valence shell) contains only 1 electron in an s subshell.
⚛ Group 2 elements occur directly to the right of Group 1 elements.
The highest energy level (valence shell) contains 2 electrons, both electrons occupy an s subshell.
The s subshell for this energy level (shell) is now full.
⚛ The highest energy level (valence shell) of a Group 13 element already has 2 electrons in an s subshell, so the next electron occupies a p subshell to make 3 valence electrons in total (2 s electrons + 1 p electron).
As you proceed from left to right across the Period from Group 13 to Group 18 elements, electrons are being added to the p subshell.
Group 18 elements have 2 s electrons and 6 p electrons in their highest energy level (shell) which completes the s and p subshell.
⚛ Transition metals are filling their d subshell with electrons, starting with Group 3 elements which have 1 electron in a d subshell.
Group 12 elements have 10 electrons in a d subshell, which corresponds to a completed d subshell.
⚛ Lanthanoids and actinoids are filling their f subshells with electrons.
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Sample Question
In the section of the periodic table shown below, the letters K, L, M and N have replaced the chemical symbols of four of the elements.
Identify the element which belongs to the d block of the periodic table.
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Footnotes:
(1) Each subshell is made up of a set of orbitals, the orbitals reflect which subshell they belong to by using the same letter, that is, there are s orbitals, p orbitals, d orbitals and f orbitals.
However, although there is only one s orbital in the s subshell, there are 3 p orbitals in the p subshell, 5 d orbitals in the d subshell, and 7 f orbitals in the 5 subshell.
So, for the purposes of this discussion we will refer to s subshells, p subshells, d subshells and f subshells rather than to orbitals.
(2) Lanthanoids are also referred to as lanthanides, and actinoids are also referred to as actinides.
Strictly speaking the lanthanoids are the 14 elements following lanthanum (La) in the Periodic Table of the Elements, but since the term "lanthanoid" is used to indicate that these elements form a closely related group of which lanthanum is the prototype, the term is usually also applied to lanthanum itself.
In this discussion, we use the term lanthanoid in its strictest sense as meaning only the 14 elements immediatedly following lanthanum in the periodic table.
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