Period 1 element

A period 1 element is one of the chemical elements in the first row (or period) of the periodic table of the chemical elements. The periodic table is laid out in rows to illustrate periodic (recurring) trends in the chemical behaviour of the elements as their atomic number increases: a new row is begun when chemical behaviour begins to repeat, meaning that analog elements fall into the same vertical columns. The first period contains fewer elements than any other row in the table, with only two: hydrogen and helium. This situation can be explained by modern theories of atomic structure. In a quantum mechanical description of atomic structure, this period corresponds to the filling of the 1s orbital. Period 1 elements obey the duet rule in that they need two electrons to complete their valence shell. Hydrogen and helium are the oldest and the most abundant elements in the universe. All other periods in the periodic table contain at least eight elements, and it is often helpful to consider periodic trends across the period. However, period 1 contains only two elements, so this concept does not apply here. In terms of vertical trends down groups, helium can be seen as a typical noble gas at the head of the IUPAC group 18, but as discussed below, hydrogen's chemistry is unique and it is not easily assigned to any group. The first electron shell, n = 1, consists of only one orbital, and the maximum number of valence electrons that a period 1 element can accommodate is two, both in the 1s orbital. The valence shell lacks "p" or any other kind of orbitals due to the general l < n constraint on the quantum numbers. Therefore, period 1 has exactly two elements. Although both hydrogen and helium are in the s-block, neither of them behaves similarly to other s-block elements. Their behaviour is so different from the other s-block elements that there is considerable disagreement over where these two elements should be placed in the periodic table.