Which statement is true regarding main group families of the periodic table? a) argon is a noble gas that gains 1 electron to become an anion to become stable. b) flourine is a chalcogen that gains 1 electron to become an anion to become stable. c) lithium is an alkali metal that loses 1 electron to become a cation to become stable. d) magnesium is an alkaline earth metal that loses two electrons to become an anion to become stable.

Option (C) is the correct answer.

Explanation:

Atomic number of lithium is 3 and electrons in its shell are distributed as 2, 1. Therefore, in order to gain stability lithium readily loses one electron and becomes a cation.

Whereas noble gases already have completely filled shells so, they don't need to gain or lose electrons.

Group 16 elements are known as chalcogens which include oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, and polonium whereas fluorine is a group 17 element also known as halogen group and not chalcogens.

Magnesium loses two electrons and thus it becomes a cation and not anion.

Hence, we can conclude that out of the given options, the statement lithium is an alkali metal that loses 1 electron to become a cation to become stable is true regarding main group families of the periodic table.

you need to take a look at the periodic system in order to sort these elements into pairs that would most likely exhibit similar chemical properties. first, you need to find elements that are found in the same group (groups are vertical in the periodic system), and then to see whether they have the same valence number. if they meet these criteria, they will have similar properties.

the first pair: ne (neon) and kr (krypton), are noble gases found in group 8

the second pair: li (lithium) and k (potassium), found in group 1

the third pair: s (sulfur) and te (tellurium), found in group 6