By considering their position in the Periodic Table, which one of the following elements would you expect to have maximum metallic characteristic?
Ga Ge As Se Be

Explanation

Before identifying the metallic character from the list of the elements, we must remember two points :
The metallic character of an element is related to the electron releasing tendency of its atoms. Greater the tendency, more will be the metallic character.
In general, metallic character of the elements increases down the group and decreases along a period. With the help of the Modern Periodic Table, let us identify the group and period to which these elements belong

Since the metallic character increases down a group and decreases along a period the obvious choice is between two elements. These are Be (beryllium) present in group 2 and Ga (gallium) present in group Now, the size of Ga is very big as compared to that of Be. Actually, the element Ga has three shells since it belongs to period 4 while the element Be has only two shells as it is a member of period 2. This means that the element Ge has a greater electron releasing tendency of its atom as compared to the element Be. Therefore, Ge has more metallic character, rather maximum metallic character among the elements that are listed.