group, in chemistry, a column in the periodic table of the chemical elements. In a group, the chemical elements have atoms with identical valence electron counts and identical valence vacancy counts. This similarity in both the composition and structure of their atomic valence shells implies a corresponding similarity in both their chemical and physical properties. Groups are numbered from 1 to 18. From left to right in the periodic table, there are two groups (1 and 2) of elements in the s-block, or hydrogen block, of the periodic table; ten groups (3 through 12) in the d-block, or transition block; and six groups (13 through 18) in the p-block, or main block. The elements in the f-block, or inner-transition block, the lanthanoids and actinoids, are not given group numbers.