Mastering Periodic Properties (ICSE Class 10): Questions, Answers & Bloom’s Taxonomy Skills

Answer Writing Practice with Bloom’s Taxonomy Skills- Competency Based

Understanding Periodic Properties and their variations is not just about memorizing trends—it’s about explaining why those trends exist. Below is a curated set of ICSE-style questions with model answers, along with the skill tested (as per Bloom’s Taxonomy) to help students refine their answer-writing approach.

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REASON-BASED QUESTIONS

1. Ionisation potential of an element increases across a period.

Answer: Ionisation potential increases due to an increase in nuclear charge and a decrease in atomic size from left to right.
Skill Tested: Understanding (Conceptual Explanation)

2. Alkali metals are good reducing agents.

Answer: Due to low ionization potential, they lose electrons easily.
Skill Tested: Understanding

3. Oxidising power increases across a period.

Answer: Increased nuclear charge increases the tendency to gain electrons.
Skill Tested: Understanding + Analysis

QUESTIONS BASED ON PERIODIC TABLE

1. What is a ‘group’?

Answer: Vertical columns with similar electronic configurations.
Skill Tested: Remembering

2. Number of elements in Period 1, 2, 3

Answer:

• Period 1 – 2 elements
• Period 2 & 3 – 8 elements each
  Skill Tested: Remembering

3. Elements in Period 1

Answer: Hydrogen and Helium
Skill Tested: Remembering

4. Common feature of the last elements in Periods 2 and 3

Answer: Complete octet configuration
Skill Tested: Understanding

5. Elements in Period 2

Answer: Eight elements
Skill Tested: Remembering

6. The
elements of one short period of the Periodic Table are given below in order from
left to right:                                   Li, Be, B, C, O, F and
Ne

(i)  To
which period do these elements belong?

(ii)  One
element of this period is missing. Which is the missing element, and where
should it be placed?

(iii)  Which one of the elements
in this period shows the property of catenation?

(iv) Place
the three elements, fluorine, beryllium, and nitrogen, in the order of
increasing electronegativity.

(v)   Which
one of the above elements belongs to the halogen series?

Answers:

(i) Period 2
(ii) Nitrogen; placed after Carbon
(iii) Carbon (catenation)
(iv) Be < N < Cl (Note: correction from given answer)
(v) Fluorine

Skill Tested: Analysis

7.   Match the atomic numbers 2, 4, 8,
15, and 19 with each of the following:   

(i)     A solid
non-metal belonging to the third period.

(ii)  A metal of
valency 1 

(iii)  A gaseous element with valency 2.

(iv) An element
belonging to group 2.

(v)   A rare
gas.

Answer:

(i) 15

(ii) 19

(iii) 8

(iv) 4

(v) 2

Skill Tested: Application

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QUESTIONS BASED ON PERIODIC PROPERTIES

1. What does electronegativity measure?

Answer: Tendency to attract a shared electron pair
Skill Tested: Understanding

2.  If
an element is in Group 17 (or group 7A), is it likely to be metallic or
non-metallic in character?

Answer: Non-metallic
Skill Tested: Understanding

3. What
happens to the atomic size of the elements on moving from left to right across
a Period?

Answer: Decreases
Skill Tested: Understanding

4. State whether the ionisation potential increases or decreases on going
down a group.

Answer: Decreases
Skill Tested: Understanding

5.  The
metals of group 2 from top to bottom are Be, Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba.

(a)
Which of these elements will form ions most readily and why?
(b) State the common
feature in the electronic configuration of all these elements.

Answers:

(a) Ba (lowest ionization energy)

(b) Two valence electrons

Skill Tested: Analysis

6.  A
group of elements in the Periodic Table is given below:

Boron, Aluminium, Gallium, Indium and Thallium

       (Boron, is the first member of the group
and thallium is the last.)

 Answer the following questions in
relation to the above group of elements:

(i)     Which
element has the most metallic character?

(ii)  Which
element would be expected to have the highest electronegativity?

(iii)   If the electronic
configuration of aluminium is 2, 8, 3, how many electrons will be there in the
outermost shell of thallium?

(iv) The
atomic number of boron is 5. Write the chemical formula of the compound formed
when boron reacts with chlorine.

(v)   Will
the elements in the group to the right of this boron group be more metallic or
less metallic in character? Justify your answer.

Answers:

(i) Thallium

(ii) Boron

(iii) 3 electrons

(iv) BCl₃

(v) Less metallic (due to increased nuclear charge)

Skill Tested: Analysis + Application

7.   With
reference to the table, answer the following questions:

• In this table, H does not
  represent hydrogen.

• Some elements are given their own symbols and positions in the periodic table.

•      Others are shown answering with a letter.

(i)  Identify
the most electronegative element. 

(ii)  Identify
the most reactive element of group 1. 

(iii)   Identify the element from
period 3 with least atomic size. 

   (iv) How
many valence electrons are present in Q?                                                        

    (vi) Identify
the noble gas of the fourth period.

    (vii)   In
the compound between A and H, what type of bond would be formed and give the
molecular formula for the same?

     (v)   Which
element from group 2 would have the least ionisation energy?         

Answers:

(i) Fluorine

(ii) Potassium

(iii) Chlorine

(iv) 5

(v) Calcium

(vi) Krypton

(vii) Ionic bond; Na₂S

Skill Tested: Analysis

8.   Use
the letters only written in the Periodic Table below to answer the questions
that follow:

(i)     State
the number of valence electrons in atom J.

(ii)  Which
element has shown forms ions with a single negative charge?

(iii)   Which metallic element is
more reactive than R?

(iv) Which
element has its electrons arranged in four shells?

Answers:

(i) 5

(ii) M

(iii) T

(iv) T

Skill Tested: Analysis

9.  The
electronegativities (according to Pauling) of the elements in Period 3 of the
Periodic Table, with the elements arranged in alphabetical order, are as
follows:

Arrange the
elements in the order in which they occur in the Periodic table from left to
right. (The Group 1 element first, followed by the Group 2 element, and so on up
to Group 17).

Expected Order: Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl

Skill Tested: Application

10.  Arrange
the following as per the instructions given in the brackets:        

(i) Cs, Na, Li, K,
Rb (Increasing order of metallic character)

(ii) Mg, Cl, Na,
S, Si (Decreasing order of atomic size)

(iii) Na, K, Cl,
S, Si (Increasing order of ionization energy)

(iv) Cl, F, Br, I
(Increasing order of electron affinity)

Answers:

(i) Li < Na < K < Rb < Cs

(ii) Na > Mg > Si > S > Cl

(iii) K < Na < Si < S < Cl

(iv) I < Br < F < Cl

Skill Tested: Application + Analysis

11. Study the extract
of the Periodic Table given below and answer the questions that follow. Give the
alphabet corresponding to the element in question. DO NOT
repeat an element.   

 

A

C

D

E

B

G

F

 

(i)
Which element forms an electrovalent compound with G?

(ii)   The ion of which element will migrate towards the cathode during
electrolysis?

(iii)  Which non-metallic element has the
valency of 2? 

(iv)  Which is an inert
gas?

Answers:

(i) B

(ii) A

(iii) E

(iv) F

Skill Tested: Analysis

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 HOW THIS HELPS IN ICSE EXAM

 

• Remembering: Direct 1-mark questions

• Understanding: Explanation-based answers (very common in ICSE)

• Application: Trend-based and arrangement questions

• Analysis: Case-based and periodic table interpretation

 

ICSE examiners value precise reasoning + correct terminology, so always:

• Use keywords like nuclear charge, atomic size, valence electrons

• Keep answers concise but scientific

 FINAL TIP FOR STUDENTS

If you can identify the skill type of a question, you automatically improve your answering strategy:

• Why? → Explain trend (Understanding)
  

• Arrange → Apply rules (Application)
  

• Identify → Recall (Remembering)