The f-block elements: Unexplored path of a budding chemist pt.1

 

    Man cannot discover new oceans unless he possesses the courage to lose sight of the shore. Growing up as a chemist, we all would have neglected certain parts of the subject that appeared confusing or complicated. I, for once, swear on myself that out of 10 topics in the subject, I had at least skipped 3 of them!. A typical student, needless to say a chemist, tends to avoid the understanding part of a minimum of one-tenth of the syllabus put in front of him. One would rather mug them up in some weird memory sequence instead of breaking our heads over understanding it. (Quantum chemistry would be the perfect example for this very situation). Lucky students like myself, had the opportunity of facing the periodic table in my second year of college. Understanding the true nature of a 118 elements wasn't a simple task. In fact, my lecturers covered only let's say, 25 elements from the whole. Out of the 25, only 6 or 7 were discussed in detail. 

    A few particularly interesting elements that I learnt for the first time in detail would be Carbon, Boron and Silicon. They might sound like easy to remember/understand elements, but trust me, its not the real case. They are so complex in nature that in fact, discussing these elements made me question my own understanding of the periodic table. If these commonly known elements are already so complex, then imagine the complexity of higher elements! Before I could learn about the other elements, the semester had ended and my teachers never discussed others in detail. Later, after completing my Bachelor's, I decided to brush up the periodic table once again and came across facts that I had never ever came across previously.

A typical borosilicate constructed using Avogadro software

    I would definitely expect "F's" in the comment section for this f-block elements related post, because honestly, who studies them? Well, if you haven't studied the f-block elements, then you must definitely since they hold a role in the periodic table more significant than you imagine. The f-block elements were never part of the periodic table (or are they? Let me know in the comments down below!). They were isolated into a separate table away from the original table. Why? The main reason being their uncommon nature from the rest of the elements. If you had read my previous post, you'd remember me telling you how the periodic table should be learnt, and how f-block elements held an exception from the method of study. It is for this very reason that f-block elements cannot be read as mentioned in that post. If you still haven't read it, I advice you to visit it for deeper understanding. 

    The f-block elements contain 2 sub-divisions referred to as Lanthanoides and Actinoides. They both are different from each other, but uniquely enough, the elements classified into these groups are similar to every other element inside the classification. You see, the very reason a set of 14 elements were stuffed into a single place inside the periodic table must mean something. It meant similarity. The element Lanthanum (La) is remarkably similar to the other 14 elements starting from Cerium (Ce) to Lutetium (Lu) and identically, Actinium (Ac) is synonymous to its own set of 14 elements.

    Earlier, these elements were referred to as rare-earth elements. Mainly because they were rare and they were found as oxides under the soil. Over the years, much rarer elements were discovered and the f-block elements were no longer termed as rare earth metals anymore. But why would someone spend all the time into separating them as a different table rather than just arranging these elements into two periods? (set of 14 elements each). The real reason behind this lies in the fundamental disruption that these elements would cause to the entire periodic table if included inside the main table. If you want to find out more about the properties that kept these elements away from the main periodic table, stay tuned for part two of this post in this upcoming week. Meanwhile, leave your questions and doubts down in the comment section below. You could alternatively also mail me at decadhya@gmail.com. Have a splendid Monday!😉😉

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the images shown in this post, they were taken from websites purely in the intention of reciprocating knowledge and recreational purposes.