Chemistry · Ch 3 — p-Block Elements-II
Introduction
Introduction
The previous unit covered the general characteristics of the p-block and its first two groups -- the icosagens (boron family, Group 13) and the tetragens (carbon family, Group 14). This unit finishes the p-block: the pnictogens (Group 15), the chalcogens (Group 16), the halogens (Group 17) and the inert (noble) gases (Group 18).
What this unit sets out to do. By the end of it you should be able to:
- discuss the preparation and properties of important compounds of nitrogen and phosphorus;
- describe the preparation and properties of important compounds of oxygen and sulphur;
- describe the preparation and properties of the halogens and hydrogen halides;
- explain the chemistry of inter-halogen compounds;
- describe the occurrence, properties and uses of the noble gases;
- appreciate the importance of p-block elements and their compounds in everyday life.
Sir William Ramsay, who discovered the noble gases, isolated argon in 1894 -- naming it after the Greek word for "lazy", a nod to its chemical inertness -- and went on to discover neon, krypton and xenon with Morris Travers, then isolated radon in 1910. His work opened up an entirely new section of the periodic table, and won him the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.