Chapter intro: The periodic table

Whichever board you sit, you're handed a periodic table in the chemistry exam. So this chapter is not about learning the table by heart. It's about reading it, and that's a skill you'll use right through the course. Here's what matters most in this chapter, and which video to press first.

If the table is new to you, start with groups, periods and position. It's the skill everything else rests on. Examiners on two boards report the same lost marks there. Students name a column or a row, when the question wanted what that place says about the electrons. If you can already read the table, go straight to Group 1, the alkali metals. Examiners' reports from three different boards come back to it again and again. Then Group 7, the halogens. Their trend runs the opposite way to the family before, and mixing up the two directions is one of the most common wrong answers in the chapter. If your exam is close, go to predicting an element's reactions from its position. It pulls the whole chapter together, and anything that trips you up there points back to the video you need. One signpost. The transition metals video is for separate chemistry only. Every other video here is for Foundation and Higher alike. You can search for any video by its name or its code, and the codes are right there on the list. The quickest way is the scholafly.com website, which lists every video in every subject.

Next in the chapter is The periodic table: groups, periods and position. Hopefully that's next in your feed - but if not, search for ScholaFly C H oh two, oh one.

For more, visit scholafly.com, or watch the next video.