The purpose of the experiment is to test and confirm the Periodic Law.

The
Periodic Law states that when the elements in the periodic table are organized by
increasing atomic number, a periodic recurrence of properties are exhibited. Rows
on the periodic table are called periods, and columns are called groups or families.
The elements involved in this experiment are four of the alkaline earth metals,Mg
2+
,
Ca
2+
, Ba
2+
and Sr
2+
, which can be found in the second group on the periodic table.
Elements of the same group have the same number of valence electrons.
Atomic radius is half the distance between the nuclei of two bonded atoms,
and nuclear charge is the net positive charge of an atom. The shielding effect is the
effect of added electron shells on the attraction between the nucleus and its
electrons. Atomic radius, effective nuclear charge, and the shielding effect have
patterns on the periodic table called periodic trends and prove the Periodic Law.
The atomic radius is important to the experiment because the bigger the atom
is, the more reactive it is. Effective nuclear charge increases when the attraction
between the nucleus and electrons increases. More protons means an increased
effective nuclear charge, so the and a greater attraction for electrons. If shielding
effect increases, effective nuclear charge will decrease, so the larger atoms, with
more shielding, will lose their electrons and form cations. As you move down a
group, energy levels are added causing the shielding effect to increase and the
effective nuclear charge to decrease. When moving across a period, the shielding
effect stays constant and therefore the effective nuclear charge. Electronegativity is
the ability of an atom to attract electrons. Atoms with high electronegativity want to
gain electrons and become anions. Cations have low electronegativity and do not
gain electrons but instead lose them. The smaller the atom, the greater the
electronegativity. Ionization energy is the ability for an atom to remove electrons
from an atom. A low ionization energy means that it takes less energy to lose an
electron. When the shielding effect increases, it takes less energy to lose an
electron. The smaller the radius, the more energy required to lose electrons.
An atoms stability is based on its electron configuration since atoms with a
full outer shell are more stable while atoms that do not have a full outer shell are less
stable. This is because atoms of an element that have a full outer shell will be less
likely to react with other elements. Noble gases are an example of an element that
have a full outer shell. Alkaline earth metals as well as alkali metals are most likely
to share their electrons. Therefore, they are the least stable family of the elements.
This is based on their electron configuration. All of the properties listed above are
trends in the periodic table. Periodic trends are related to the atomic structure of the
elements. Trends can be used to predict how atoms will chemically
behave. Usually, the ionization of an atom will show how stable it is because the
better it can hold onto an electron, the more stable it is. All of the above can be used
to predict how an atom will chemically behave by predicting size and amount of
electrons and how the electrons will affect stability.