The group II elements are beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium andRadium. The appearances of the Group II elements are all metals with a shiny, silvery-white colour.

Authors Avatar

Group II Elements

The group II elements are beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium and

Radium.

The appearances of the Group II elements are all metals with a shiny, silvery-white colour.

The alkaline earth metals are high in the reactivity series of metals, but not as high as the alkali metals of Group 1. Reactivity of Group II elements increases down the group. This can be explained by the increase in ease at losing two outer electrons as the elements descend the group. The loss of electrons becomes easier due to the decreasing ionisation energy required.

Ionisation energy decreases due to extra shielding from inner shells and increase in distance from the nucleus.

Other properties are that the group II elements are good conductors of electricity, there compounds are colourless and in all their compounds they have an oxidation number +2.  

Join now!

 

Uses

The uses of group II elements are used widely in the commerce and industry. The bright white flame of magnesium is used in flares. It also has a very strong reducing power that it is widely used to protect steel objects, like ships for example. The strong reducing power also means that it can be used to extract less electropositive metals.    

Oxidation States and ionisation Energies

In all their compounds these metals have an oxidation number of +2 and, with few exceptions, their compounds are ionic. The reason for this can be seen by ...

This is a preview of the whole essay