Correlating periodic table and element properties

The Group 1, 2 and 13 elements are given in the table below together with the Group valence electron configuration and their common oxidation states.
Note from the periodic table given that these elements are all metals except for boron. Things do start to change once we get to p-block elements!!

1	2
							1H										2He
3 Li	4 Be											5 B	6 C	7 N	8 O	9 F	10 Ne
11 Na	12 Mg											13 Al	14 Si	15 P	16 S	17 Cl	18 Ar
19 K	20 Ca	21 Sc	22 Ti	23 V	24 Cr	25 Mn	26 Fe	27 Co	28 Ni	29 Cu	30 Zn	31 Ga	32 Ge	33 As	34 Se	35 Br	36 Kr
37 Rb	38 Sr	39 Y	40 Zr	41 Nb	42 Mo	43 Tc	44 Ru	45 Rh	46 Pd	47 Ag	48 Cd	49 In	50 Sn	51 Sb	52 Te	53 I	54 Xe
55 Cs	56 Ba	71 Lu	72 Hf	73 Ta	74 W	75 Re	76 Os	77 Ir	78 Pt	79 Au	80 Hg	81 Tl	82 Pb	83 Bi	84 Po	85 At

Group 1	Li	Na	K	Rb	Cs
ns¹	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1
	0	0	0	0	0

Group 2	Be	Mg	Ca	Sr	Ba
ns²	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2
	0	0	0	0	0

Group 13	B	Al	Ga	In	Tl
ns² np¹	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3
B and Al have ill-defined negative oxidation states				+1	+1
	0	0	0	0	0

The maximum oxidation state for any element corresponds to loss of all valence electrons.

Group 13 elements are in p block. p-Block elements have valence electrons in both s- and p-subshells. Oxidation states which are lower than the maximum and correspond to loss of only the p-subshell electrons become more important for elements at the bottom of the group in p-block and for elements in groups farther to the right across the periodic table. These oxidation states correspond to the maximum oxidation state minus 2 (as for indium and thallium in Group 13).

The beginning of success in inorganic chemistry is to recognise the group in which an element appears, and to know the common oxidation states for that group. This can be used to figure out lots of things. This means that you do not have to memorise so much.