Carbon (atomic no. 6) and silicon (atomic no. 14) belong to group 14 of the periodic table. Write electronic configuration of these two elements. Predict whether these are metallic or not. Give reason for your answer.

Explanation

(i) Electronic configuration of carbon (Z = 6) = 2, 4. Electronic configuration of silicon (Z = 14) = 2, 8, 4. Both these elements belong to the same group (14) since their atoms have four valence electrons. Both of them are non-metals. However, the element silicon is less non-metallic since this character decreases down a group, It may be regarded as a semi-metal.