Period 3 element

A period 3 element is one of the chemical elements in the third row (or period) of the periodic table of the chemical elements. The periodic table is laid out in rows to illustrate recurring (periodic) trends in the chemical behaviour of the elements as their atomic number increases: a new row is begun when the periodic table skips a row and a chemical behaviour begins to repeat, meaning that elements with similar behaviour fall into the same vertical columns. The third period contains eight elements: sodium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine and argon. The first two, sodium and magnesium, are members of the s-block of the periodic table, while the others are members of the p-block. All of the period 3 elements occur in nature and have at least one stable isotope. In a quantum mechanical description of atomic structure, this period corresponds to the buildup of electrons in the third (n = 3) shell, more specifically filling its 3s and 3p subshells. There is a 3d subshell, but—in compliance with the Aufbau principle—it is not filled until period 4. This makes all eight elements analogs of the period 2 elements in the same exact sequence. The octet rule generally applies to period 3 in the same way as to period 2 elements, because the 3d subshell is normally non-acting. Sodium Sodium (symbol Na) is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite and rock salt. Many salts of sodium are highly soluble in water and are thus present in significant quantities in the Earth's bodies of water, most abundantly in the oceans as sodium chloride. Many sodium compounds are useful, such as sodium hydroxide (lye) for soapmaking, and sodium chloride for use as a deicing agent and a nutrient. The same ion is also a component of many minerals, such as sodium nitrate. The free metal, elemental sodium, does not occur in nature but must be prepared from sodium compounds.

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