Block (periodic table) side of the periodic table and includes elements from the first two columns, the alkali metals (group 1) and alkaline earth metals (group 2), plus hydrogen and helium. Helium can be placed in the second group of s block as well as the 18th group of p-block, but most scientists consider it to rest at the top of group 18 i.e. above neon (atomic number 10) as it has many properties similar to the group 18 elements.General valance configration is ns1-2 Most s-block elements are highly reactive metals due to the ease with which their outer s-orbital electrons interact to
Periodic table occupies a new shell corresponds to the start of each new period, these positions being occupied by hydrogen and the alkali metals. Since the properties of an element are mostly determined by its electron configuration, the properties of the elements likewise show recurring patterns or periodic behaviour, some examples of which are shown in the diagrams below for atomic radii, ionization energy and electron affinity. It is this periodicity of properties, manifestations of which were noticed well before the underlying theory was developed, that led to the establishment of the periodic law (the properties of the elements recur at varying