Block (periodic table)

A block of the periodic table of elements is a set of adjacent groups. The term appears to have been first used (in French) by Charles Janet. The respective highest-energy electrons in each element in a block belong to the same atomic orbital type. Each block is named after its characteristic orbital; thus, the blocks are:

• s-block
• p-block
• d-block
• f-block
• g-block (hypothetical)

The block names (s, p, d, f. and g) are derived from the quality of the spectroscopic lines of the associated atomic orbitals: sharp, principal, diffuse and fundamental, the rest being named in alphabetical order. Blocks are sometimes called families.

The following is the order for filling the "subshell" orbitals, according to the Aufbau principle, which also gives the linear order of the "blocks" (as atomic number increases) in the periodic table:

1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d, 4p, 5s, 4d, 5p, 6s, 4f, 5d, 6p, 7s, 5f, 6d, 7p, ...

For discussion of the nature of why the energies of the blocks naturally appear in this order in complex atoms, see atomic orbital and electron configuration.

The "periodic" nature of the filling of orbitals, as well as emergence of the s, p, d and f "blocks" is more obvious, if this order of filling is given in matrix form, with increasing principal quantum numbers starting the new rows ("periods") in the matrix. Then, each subshell (composed of the first two quantum numbers) is repeated as many times as required for each pair of electrons it may contain. The result is a compressed periodic table, with each entry representing two successive elements:

1s 2s 2p 2p 2p 3s 3p 3p 3p 4s 3d 3d 3d 3d 3d 4p 4p 4p 5s 4d 4d 4d 4d 4d 5p 5p 5p 6s (4f) 5d 5d 5d 5d 5d 6p 6p 6p 7s (5f) 6d 6d 6d 6d 6d 7p 7p 7p

Periodic table

Helium is placed next to hydrogen instead of on top of neon because it is part of the s² group. In addition to the blocks listed in this table, there is a hypothetical g-block which is not pictured here. g-block elements can be seen in the expanded extended periodic table. Also, lutetium and lawrencium are placed under scandium and yttrium to reflect their status as d-block elements.

Group →	1	2		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
↓ Period
1	1 H	2 He
2	3 Li	4 Be												5 B	6 C	7 N	8 O	9 F	10 Ne
3	11 Na	12 Mg												13 Al	14 Si	15 P	16 S	17 Cl	18 Ar
4	19 K	20 Ca		21 Sc	22 Ti	23 V	24 Cr	25 Mn	26 Fe	27 Co	28 Ni	29 Cu	30 Zn	31 Ga	32 Ge	33 As	34 Se	35 Br	36 Kr
5	37 Rb	38 Sr		39 Y	40 Zr	41 Nb	42 Mo	43 Tc	44 Ru	45 Rh	46 Pd	47 Ag	48 Cd	49 In	50 Sn	51 Sb	52 Te	53 I	54 Xe
6	55 Cs	56 Ba	*	71 Lu	72 Hf	73 Ta	74 W	75 Re	76 Os	77 Ir	78 Pt	79 Au	80 Hg	81 Tl	82 Pb	83 Bi	84 Po	85 At	86 Rn
7	87 Fr	88 Ra	**	103 Lr	104 Rf	105 Db	106 Sg	107 Bh	108 Hs	109 Mt	110 Ds	111 Rg	112 Cn	113 Uut	114 Uuq	115 Uup	116 Uuh	117 Uus	118 Uuo
* Lanthanides				57 La	58 Ce	59 Pr	60 Nd	61 Pm	62 Sm	63 Eu	64 Gd	65 Tb	66 Dy	67 Ho	68 Er	69 Tm	70 Yb
** Actinides				89 Ac	90 Th	91 Pa	92 U	93 Np	94 Pu	95 Am	96 Cm	97 Bk	98 Cf	99 Es	100 Fm	101 Md	102 No

Blocks of the periodic table   s-block   p-block   d-block   f-block
Atomic number colors show state of matter at standard conditions (0 °C and 1 atm): Solids Liquids Gases Unknown	Borders show natural occurrence: Primordial From decay Synthetic