The main group elements (with some of the lighter transition metals) are the most abundant elements on the earth, in the solar system, and in the universe.
A Group 6 element is the series of elements in group 6 (IUPAC style) in the periodic table, which consists of the transition metals chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), and seaborgium (Sg).
"Group 6" is the new IUPAC name for this group, the old style name was "group VIA" in the old European system or "group VIB" in the old US system.
Group 6 must not be confused with the group with the old-style group names of either VIB (European system) or VIA (US system) which is now group 16.
The chemistry of the maingroupelements is dominated primarily by the electronic configuration in just the s and p orbitals; that of the transition metals by the electronic configuration of electrons in the d orbitals; and that of the lanthanides and actinides by the electronic configuration of electrons in the f orbitals.
Progressing through a group from lightest element to heaviest element, the outer-shell electrons (those most readily accessible for participation in chemical reactions) are all in the same type of orbital, with a similar shape, but with increasingly higher energy and average distance from the nucleus.
In francium, the heaviest element of the group, the outer-shell electron is in the seventh-shell orbital, significantly further out on average from the nucleus than those electrons filling all the shells below it in energy.
Feeds |
Contact