Some elements in the periodic table, such as carbon, silicon, and germanium, are intrinsic semiconductors due to the number of electrons in their outermost electron shells. By comparison ...

With a heavy nucleus (79 protons) and a lone electron in its outermost electron shell, gold should have fairly similar ... during the history of chemistry," a 1978 paper on the topic explained. "It ...

Elements in group 1 and group 2 are metals. Atoms of group 1 elements have one electron in their outer shell, and atoms of group 2 elements have two electrons in their outer shell. Elements in ...