Atomic Structure and Bonding

The Bohr Model is a convenient one for predicting the electron configuration of an atom. From this, we can infer the charge of its ion, or if it can form covalent bonds.

The Periodic Table is arranged in columns called Groups. Elements within the same Group have very similar chemical properties. Chemical properties are determined by the electron configuration. Therefore, even if we do not know the structure of an atom (such as Barium, Ba), we can infer the ion it makes and its properties from the elements in its Group.