Properties of Boron Family

Introduction

Boron family is important as; these elements play a major role in the ecosystem. They are essential for both plants and humans. For example, boron deficiency can stop plant growth while the excess amount of boron can inhibit the growth. Just like any other group, the boron family have some specific characteristics such as the pattern of electron configuration.

What is Boron Family?

The term boron family can refer to all the elements that belong to group 13. It is the first group in the p block of the periodic table. The periodic table and the position of the elements are dependent on the valance electron. In the case of group 13 elements, those valance electrons contain p subshell.

Figure 1 − Boron family in the periodic table

The boron family is the combination of metal and non-metal members. For example, boron is a non-metal, however, the rest of the members such as Aluminium, Gallium, Indium, and Thallium are metals. However, these all have 3 electrons in the outermost shell. The properties of these elements vary due of their presence.

Properties of Boron Family

The physical and chemical properties of the boron family are −

Physical Properties

In comparison with the group 2 elements the atomic radii of the boron family elements are smaller. Effective nuclear charge is the reason behind of this. The atomic and ionic radii decrease as it goes down in the group. Only it differs between aluminium and gallium. This can be represented as- Boron < Aluminium > Gallium < Indium < Thallium. On the other hand, the ionization enthalpy increases from boron to aluminium.

The electronegativity decreases from boron to aluminium, while it changes in the case of Aluminium and Thallium. Among the group members the basic characteristic increases when moving down, while the acidic character decreases with that.

Chemical Properties

Some basic chemical properties create the differences, such as; reactivity towards oxygen, acids, alkalis, metal, water, and halogens. Other than that, toxicity is another parameter. All members of group 13 forms trioxide at very high temperature. All the members including boron can react with both oxidizing and non-oxidizing acids.

The boron can react with strong oxidizing acids at a very high temperature. At the same high temperature, the other members can react with halogen, only Tl shows a different result. Among them boron does not react with normal water it can react only with steam.

Members of the boron family

Figure 2 − Allotrope of boron with the simplest structures

( Materialscientist at English Wikipedia, Alfaboron, CC BY-SA 3.0)(Materialscientist at English Wikipedia, Betaboron, CC BY-SA 3.0) (OpenStax, CNX Chem 18 03 BIcosahed, CC BY 4.0)

Group 13 is also referred to as the boron family, because the boron is the first member of the group. It has 6 chemical members. The other members of the group are Aluminium (Al), Gallium (Ga), Indium (In) and Thallium (Tl) (embibe, 2022). They all have one thing in common; there are three electrons in the outer shell of their nuclear structure. All the members of the group are considered toxic if they are given in a higher dose.

Covalent Character and reason behind the Anomalous Behaviour of Boron

There is covalent characteristics and some anomalous behaviour of the boron family and they are-

• Covalent Character − Three major reasons that helps the boron family members to form the covalent compoundsare, it follows Fajan’s rule, which states that greater the covalence of smaller cation. The formation of the ionic compound becomes difficult because the group 13 elements have extremely high ionization enthalpies. The higher electronegativity of these elements affects the compound formation.

• Reason behind the Anomalous Behaviour of Boron − A very few reasons are responsible for the anomalous behaviour of the Boron such as these are very small in size and ionizing enthalpy of the boron is very high , Boron is high electronegative in comparison with the other members of the family. This element lacks valance shell in d-orbital.

Conclusion

The chemical symbol of the group members are Boron (B), aluminium (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and thallium (T). Among the members, boron is the only non-metal member while the rest of the members are metals. Metals can be used in many forms. The non-metal boron is very essential because of its various uses. It can be used in the making of glass, ceramics, detergents, bleaches etc. It plays important role in the field of agriculture.

FAQs

1. What is the main use of the boron?

The boron is naturally present in the atmosphere and the food. The supplements of the boron are used as food. It is very useful in the treatment of osteoarthritis. It also helps to boost the level of hormone such as testosterone.

2. What makes the boron so important?

Boron has many different usages and because of that, it is considered one of the most crucial elements. On one hand, it is an essential plant nutrient; on the other’ it plays a major role in the nuclear industry. It is also the primary element of the oobleck fluid.

3. What is the reason behind the low density of the boron?

The density level rises with the progress from boron to thallium. “Boron and aluminium both have low values because they have lower atomic masses in comparison with the gallium, indium and thallium.

4. How do boron and aluminium have the same kind of properties?

As boron and aluminium both belong to the same element group, they have some similar chemical properties. For example, they both have three valance electrons and can exhibit with three valency.