APA citation style: Historic American Buildings Survey, C. & Benison, G. (1933) Oakland Plantation, Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, SC. Documentation Compiled After. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sc0292/.
There are 18 groups (columns) in the periodic table. Group 1 (also known as the alkali metals) is the column on the far left of the table. Elements in the same group have similar, but not identical characteristics. This is because they all have the same number of electrons in their outermost shell.
About the Group. Let's look at the other side of the periodic table now. The group of elements at the far right of the table (Group 18) is known commonly as the noble gases. They are generally chemically inert. This means that they do not react with other elements because they already have the desired eight total s and p electrons in their outermost (highest) energy level.