Place the following elements in order of Decreasing atomic size: tellurium, bromine, argon, cesium, strontium, and selenium.
would the correct ranking then be:
Cs, Sr, Te, Se, Br, Ar ???
or am I still way off??
See my earlier post.
The correct ranking of elements in decreasing atomic size is:
Cs (Cesium) > Sr (Strontium) > Te (Tellurium) > Se (Selenium) > Br (Bromine) > Ar (Argon)
So, your ranking is almost correct, but the correct order is Cs, Sr, Te, Se, Br, Ar.
To determine the order of decreasing atomic size for the given elements (tellurium, bromine, argon, cesium, strontium, and selenium), you need to consider the periodic trends related to atomic size.
Atomic size generally decreases as you move from left to right across a period (horizontal row) and increases as you move down a group (vertical column) on the periodic table.
Now, let's analyze the given elements:
First, we have cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr) which belong to group 1 and group 2 of the periodic table, respectively. Since atomic size generally increases as you move down a group, cesium will have a larger atomic size than strontium.
Next, we have tellurium (Te), selenium (Se), and bromine (Br). These three elements belong to the same period (period 5). As we move from left to right across a period, atomic size generally decreases. Therefore, tellurium will have the largest atomic size among these three.
Finally, we have argon (Ar). As a noble gas, argon belongs to group 18 (8A) of the periodic table. Noble gases are known to have the smallest atomic size within their respective periods.
Combining the above information, the correct order of decreasing atomic size for the given elements is:
Cs, Sr, Te, Se, Br, Ar
So your ranking Cs, Sr, Te, Se, Br, Ar is correct!