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Why do some people say that hydrogen should be above lithium, Li, in the Periodic Table, and others argue that it should be above fluorine, f?
Accepted Answer
Although hydrogen has one electron, like lithium and fluorine, its chemical properties are more similar to those of the alkali metals than to those of the halogens. Hydrogen is placed in Group 1 above lithium because it has one valence electron, just like the alkali metals. Fluorine, on the other hand, has seven valence electrons, and so it is placed in Group 17 above chlorine.
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