For detailed information on a particular question, please see the results below. We welcome any comments or criticisms you may have about these diagnostics. Question 1, with Answer 1. For each of the following properties, indicate how they vary related to the periodic table. You should indicate trends both vertically and horizontally.
Atomic weight is filled in as an example.
Percentages for this question, with comments At the time this diagnostic was given, the periodic trends in electronegativity had been discussed, but not those in atomic radius or ionization energy. Wrong answers for IE ranged through just about every possible combination, so no one misconception was clear. Moving across the periodic table from left to right, the number of protons and electrons is increasing and therefore the mass is increasing. However, for elements in the same row, all of the electrons are being added to the same shell. These electrons are all the same distance from the nucleus and therefore do not experience any additional nuclear shielding due to the other electrons in the valence shell.