Graphical representation of chemical periodicity of main elements through boxplot

Abstract

Graphics play an important role in data analysis. Boxplots are powerful graphical representation of data that gives an overview and a numerical summary of a data set. In this paper boxplots are used to analyze the periodic trends of main elements. The properties considered are atomic radius, first ionization energy, electron affinity and electronegativity. Boxplots are constructed and metals, nonmetals and metalloids are compared. The results are presented in a manner not explored in chemistry textbooks, pointing out key chemical features visualized through median, quartiles, possible outliers and shape of the distribution. These pictorial representations can show similarities, differences, trends and irregularities among elements, groups and periods, which help better understand their characteristics.