Question

Which group 2 element is most metallic?

Answer 1

Hint: Metallic character of a group increases down the group as the tendency to lose electrons increases going down the group. Therefore, the elements at the bottom have generally more metallic character than the ones at the top.

Complete answer:
The element in group 2 that is most metallic or has the most metallic character is radium ( \[Ra\] ).
The reason behind this is that the metallic character of elements increases while going down any group. As radium is the last element in group 2, it is the most metallic or has the most metallic character in group 2.
Similarly, the element on the top of any group will be highly nonmetallic, for example, in group 2 beryllium ( \[Be\] ) is the top element thus it is least metallic in group 2.
The reason behind the increase in metallic character while going down the group is that the tendency to lose electrons increases while going down the group. As the elements at the bottom of the group have electrons in large amounts, they tend to have more orbits.
Therefore, the electrons in the outermost orbits are less attracted towards their nucleus. Thus those elements can lose electrons easily and therefore, they have more metallic character.
While for the elements at the top of the group, they have less electrons and thus their outermost orbit is quite near to their nucleus. Therefore, the attraction of those electrons towards their nucleus is more. So, they do not lose electrons easily and their metallic character decreases.
Therefore, the element in group 2 which has the most metallic character or is most metallic is radium.

Note:
The metallic character also increases from right to left, thus group 1 elements are more metallic than group 2 elements. Cesium ( \[Cs\] ) is in group 1 and it is the last element in that group, thus cesium is more metallic than radium. Although cesium is not the last element in group1 and francium ( \[Fr\] ) is, but francium is very rare, thus there is no proof yet that it is more metallic than cesium.