Period (periodic table) eighth period. Period (periodic table) A period in the periodic table is a horizontal row. All elements in a row have the same number of electron shells. Each next element in a period has one more proton and is less metallic than its predecessor. Arranged this way, groups of elements in the same column have similar chemical and physical properties, reflecting the periodic law. For example, the alkali metals lie in the first column (group 1) and share similar properties, such as high reactivity and the tendency to lose one electron to arrive at a noble-gas electronic configuration. As of
Extended periodic table chemically active. Its chemical behaviour is expected to be similar to uranium and neptunium, as further ionisation past the +6 state (corresponding to removal of the 6g electrons) is likely to be unprofitable; the +4 state should be most common in aqueous solution, with +5 and +6 reachable in solid compounds. The number of physically possible elements is unknown. A low estimate is that the periodic table may end soon after the island of stability, which is expected to center on "Z" = 126, as the extension of the periodic and nuclides tables is restricted by the proton and the