Re: Chemistry problem, again

["J. Green" <green320@RCN.COM>]

> Below is the prompt and the following questions. I really only need some
> guidance with the structure of the periodic table.

The periodic table is made of rows and columns.  They both indicate electron
shell configurations.  The first row has two elements in it, for the first
orbital that has two electrons.  The split between the atoms on the right
and the left are a result of the convention to place the elements with one
electron in it's valence shell on the left, and elements with full outer
shells on the right.  Since the second set of elements deals with the next
shell, the next row has 8 elements, and this time, the split is because of
the two sub-shells involved, 2a on the left, and 2b on the right.  The rest
of the table follows basically that pattern.  There is an alternate periodic
table based on a spiraling cone.  A google search gave me this:
http://chemlab.pc.maricopa.edu/periodic/periodic.html
I guess it's hard to see from the diagram, but I'm referring to the Benfey
version.  It looks much better in 3d.

> Otherwise my only
> question concerns number 6 about oxidating numbers. How does that work?
> Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
>
> 6. Predict the oxidation numbers of elements 22, 18, 3, 31, and 5.

One needs only to figure out how many electrons will be in the outer shell.
Just subtract the number of electrons that completely fill subshells.

Josh Green