Question
Question: Which is the largest atom in Group 14?...
Which is the largest atom in Group 14?
Solution
Hint : The elements of group 14 show a greater range of chemical behavior than any other family in the periodic table. Three of the five elements—carbon, tin, and lead—have been known since ancient times.
Complete Step By Step Answer:
Period | Element | Atomic Number |
---|---|---|
2nd | Carbon | 6 |
3rd | Silicon | 14 |
4th | Germanium | 32 |
5th | Tin | 50 |
6th | Lead | 82 |
Therefore, the element which has the largest atom in group 14 is Lead.
Group 14 elements exhibit more chemical diversity than any other family in the periodic table. Carbon, tin, and lead are three of the five elements that have been recognized since ancient times. Egyptian hieroglyphics inscribed on papyrus with ink derived from lampblack, a finely split carbon soot formed by incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, are some of the oldest known writings. Activated carbon, which is made from the heat breakdown of organic materials like sawdust, is a finer-grained form of carbon. Activated carbon is used to decolorize foods like sugar and purify gases and wastewater because it adsorbs various organic and sulfur-containing chemicals. Tin and lead oxides and sulfides are quickly converted to metal when heated with charcoal, a discovery that must have happened by chance when prehistoric humans utilized rocks containing their ores for cooking. Because tin and copper ores are frequently found together in nature, their alloy, bronze, was most likely discovered before either element, ushering in the Bronze Age.
Note :
Because lead, the largest element in group 14, is such a soft and pliable metal, ancient Romans utilized thin lead foils as writing tablets, as well as lead cookware and plumbing pipes. (Recall that the atomic symbols for tin and lead are Sn for stannum and Pb for plumbum, respectively.)