Lab 2.2 Bag of Ions and Periodic Table activities

The Periodic Table is arranged on a grid system, with the columns being groups, and the rows being periods. The elements that are located in the same group have the same number of valence electrons. For example, the elements that are in group 18, all have 8 valence electrons. These elements are the Noble Gases, and they have similar chemical properties. This holds true for the elements in other groups; they have similar chemical properties as elements as other elements in the same group. The major different between elements in the same group, is the number of electron shells. Elements that are in the periods closer to the bottom of the periodic table have more electron shells, thus, the atom is larger. To sum it up, an atom that is in the bottom right corner of the Periodic Table will have a higher number of valence electrons and more electron shells than an element that is in the top left hand corner of the periodic table.
Atoms and Ions are fairly similar. Ions are atoms in a more stable state because they have either gained electrons to make their valence electron count 8, or have lost electrons to bring their valence electron count to 0. This transfer of electrons happens when 2 elements exchange valence electrons such that they will have opposite charges, and will bond together. A Magnesium ion is still Magnesium, it is just Magnesium that has been oxidized. You can predict the charge of an ion based on how many valence electrons it has. If an atom has 3 valence electrons, then its ion will have a charge of +3, because it is going to lose those three valence electrons. One can determine whether the charge of the ion  will be positive of negative. Metals will lose their valence electrons, making their charge positive, and nonmetals will gain electrons, making their charge negative; with the exception of the noble gases, which cannot react with anything.