I thought it was because the group 1 metals are smaller than the group 2 metals but the answer sheet says it's because there are more valence electrons and a stronger positive charge in group 2 metals. But why does it matter if there's more valence electrons and a stronger positive charge?
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1 Answer
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In the photo, you can see that for Group $2$ metals, the cation is doubly positively charged, making the attraction stronger.
Credits
The photo is from Figure 12.20, Section 12.5, Principles of General Chemistry (v. 1.0).
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$\begingroup$ Is it doubly positively charged because there's more protons? $\endgroup$– HamzeOct 12, 2016 at 2:24
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$\begingroup$ @Hamze partly. it is doubly positively charged because it is two electrons away from the stable octet state, so two electrons become delocalized. $\endgroup$– DHMOOct 12, 2016 at 8:37